More than 250 British celebrities are among thousands of famous individuals targeted by deepfake pornography, a Channel 4 News investigation has found. The analysis of the five most visited deepfake websites revealed almost 4,000 famous people listed, including 255 from the UK.
The victims include female actors, TV stars, musicians, and YouTubers whose faces were superimposed onto pornographic material using artificial intelligence. The five sites received 100 million views in three months.
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman, identified as a victim, said: “It feels like a violation. It just feels really sinister that someone out there who’s put this together, I can’t see them, and they can see this kind of imaginary version of me, this fake version of me.”
Since 31 January, sharing such imagery without consent is illegal in the UK under the Online Safety Act, but creating the content remains legal. The legislation was passed in response to the surge in AI-generated deepfake pornography. In 2016, researchers identified one such video; in the first three-quarters of 2023, 143,733 new deepfake porn videos were uploaded to the 40 most used sites.
Sophie Parrish, 31, from Merseyside, discovered fabricated nude images of herself online before the law changed. She said: “It’s just very violent, very degrading. It’s like women don’t mean anything, we’re just worthless, we’re just a piece of meat.”
Ofcom is consulting on enforcing the Online Safety Act. A spokesperson said firms must assess risks and remove illegal content. Google and Meta have also outlined measures to tackle deepfakes, including removal from search and banning ads for such apps.
