Britain's Kate Isaacs was unsuspectingly trolling Twitter when she spotted a video of herself having sex. It wasn't a leak of her private moments, but rather a a fake video, which was created using deepfake technology.
«The result disgusted me. I was exposed. Suddenly, I felt like I was going to see this video published everywhere. The feeling was horrible,» she said, speaking about her adventure to the BBC.
The similarities with revenge porn
Deepfake videos are created by artificial intelligence algorithms, with appropriate processing. They show similarities with revenge pornography, as in both cases the following are created without the consent of the subject.
Indeed, in Scotland, sharing images and videos showing a person in private moments without their consent, is a criminal offence, either the video is fake or real. «However, in other parts of the UK the law does not cover us» said Isaacs «the victim has to prove that the action is not a crime". was done fraudulently, which means that often perpetrators do not face criminal consequences».
She said she believes she was targeted because of the campaign she has launched against revenge porn and child pornography. «I think some people were bothered by my campaign. Now that I think about it, maybe I took away revenue from them, that's why they chose to vilify me in this way,’ Isaacs commented, although she then acknowledged that she doesn't know who is behind the video.
The deepfake with Zelenski
Deepfake technology has not only been used to make pornographic videos. Last March, a video showing the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky capitulating and calling on the Ukrainians to surrender their weapons. At the time, internet users were quick to notice that Zelenski's skin colour was different on his neck and face, his accent sounded strange and his head appeared to have been processed. In the process, Facebook officials removed the video from the platform, and it was subsequently removed from other social networking sites.
