Numerous "explicit deepfake videos" featuring "female celebrities, actresses, and musicians" accrue millions of views online as porn companies are "still failing to remove them" from the websites where said vids are being posted on a seemingly regular basis, Wired UK reports citing a new analysis conducted by "deepfake detection company" Sensity.
According to the magazine, Sensity's figures show that so far in 2020, up to 1,000 deepfake videos have been uploaded every month to porn websites, with celebrities whose likeness was used in such vids including Emma Watson, Natalie Portman, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift.
The deepfake videos that have been posted on XVideos, Xnxx, and xHamster - "three of the biggest porn websites" - have reportedly been viewed millions of times, with ads surrounding them likely helping those websites to make money.
Giorgio Patrini, CEO and chief scientist at Sensity, argued that "the attitude of these websites is that they don't really consider this a problem".
"Until there is a strong reason for [porn websites] to try to take them down and to filter them, I strongly believe nothing is going to happen," Patrini remarked. "People will still be free to upload this type of material without any consequences to these websites that are viewed by hundreds of millions of people".
xHamster VP Alex Hawkins, however, has revealed that while their company does not have a specific policy towards deepfakes, they are treated "like any other nonconsensual content".
"We absolutely understand the concern around deepfakes, so we make it easy for it to be removed," Hawkins said. "Content uploaded without necessary permission being obtained is in violation of our Terms of Use and will be removed once identified."
The magazine also points out that the owners of Xnxx and Xvideos did not return their request for comments, and that Sensity's figures apparently did not include PornHub which, despite banning deepfakes back in 2018, "still has problems with the videos".
