The Biggest Deepfake Porn Website Is Now Blocked in the UK
Obviously, the UK just made a big move to prevent the deepfake sexual abuse content. The article indicates that all UK IP addresses will be blocked from accessing the biggest deepfake porn website. Previously, it was illegal for people in the UK to share sexualized deepfakes. Now, they plan to strengthen the provision by criminalizing the creation of nonconsensual deepfakes.
While the two websites can still be accessed in the UK using a VPN, the top-down restriction can hinder the mass production of deepfakes in the UK. And, such a move is like banning YouTube, and Instagram for Mainland China, though one can still find ways to access the websites, the extra efforts required to set up the VPN could be a hustle for people and prevent them from actually consuming the content on those websites.
However, as we have seen in the documentary Another Body, the pain point of almost all cybersecurity-related problems comes down to the anonymity of hackers they can always break the net of justice and play the hit-and-run using a virtual disguise. So, it is not clear in terms of how much effect will be acted upon the whole pornography industry which relies heavily on the deepfakes to gather consumers at a lower cost. The underlying private nature of the industry might also speak about the difficulty of outlawing content creators because they might just be catfish or fake accounts.
Looking at the statistics, I don’t think that one should argue that “creating fake erotic images is not inherently bad and online spaces can be a great way to explore and enjoy sexuality“. It is because the online spaces are private and unregulated, they are safe for erotic content makers to create deepfakes without being caught. It is because statistically, the chance for people to consume consensual and legitimate fake pornography is as low as 2%, one should not justify this consumption by exploring the openness of sexuality.
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