Google announces news steps to combat sexually explicit deepfakes
Google announced Wednesday new measures to assist victims and reduce to prominence of deepfakes in top search results.
After a staggering increase in the number of fake pornographic videos and images uploaded online in the last several years, Google on Wednesday announced new measures to assist victims and reduce the prominence of deepfakes in top search results.
The search engine also committed to taking steps to derank websites that frequently host the nonconsensual sexually explicit fake videos — also known as deepfakes — meaning that they may appear lower in search results. Deepfakes refer to misleading fake media, which has increasingly been created using artificial-intelligence tools.
Nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes often “swap” a victim’s face onto the body of a person in a pre-existing pornographic video. Generative AI tools have also been used to create fake but realistic sexually explicit images that depict real people, or “undress” real photos to make victims appear nude. The practice overwhelmingly affects women and girls, both public figures and, increasingly, girls in middle and high schools around the world.
In 2023, more nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes were posted online than in all previous years combined. Google and other search engines have directed traffic to websites that allow deepfake creators to profit, as well as included links to deepfake videos and shown deepfake images in top search results. The platform has also included links to tools used to create nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes in top results.
In its announcement Wednesday, Google said it will aim to filter explicit content from similar searches after victims successfully request the removal of explicit nonconsensual fake imagery through an online form. Currently, victims have to flag each URL containing the imagery.
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