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Over the past two weeks, a new Reddit customs for creating fake porn videos took off, courtesy of new motorcar learning algorithms and editing tools. Information technology'southward an alarming concept for multiple reasons, given the style revenge porn has been used to target individuals. A user community focused on the creation of these edits, r/deepfakes, quickly sprang upward on Reddit, while deepfake videos have been pop on Pornhub.

Today, both companies appear they were taking steps to stop the do. On Reddit's front, the r/deepfakes community has been suspended. A company spokesperson told Motherboard:

Reddit strives to be a welcoming, open up platform for all by trusting our users to maintain an environment that cultivates 18-carat conversation. Equally of Feb 7, 2022, nosotros take made two updates to our site-broad policy regarding involuntary pornography and sexual or suggestive content involving minors. These policies were previously combined in a single dominion; they volition now be broken out into ii distinct ones. Communities focused on this content and users who post such content will be banned from the site.

The "involuntary pornography" category is an interesting ane. Previously, it would've practical to people whose sexual activities were filmed without their consent or knowledge. Now, it can apply to anyone who finds their likeness stapled into a pornographic film or prototype.

Meanwhile, Pornhub has stated it will delete deepfake videos that punch such a gaping hole in user consent. "Nosotros practise not tolerate whatsoever nonconsensual content on the site and we remove all said content as soon as we are made aware of it," a site spokesperson said in the same report. "Nonconsensual content directly violates our TOS [terms of service] and consists of content such as revenge porn, deepfakes or annihilation published without a person's consent or permission."

Deepfake

Deepfakes are likewise beingness used, horrifyingly, to put Nicholas Cage in everything. IN EVERYTHING. INVOLUNTARY NICHOLAS CAGE.

At printing time, there were still enough of various faked videos on the site, just that should change going forward. Regardless, this kind of video fakery is going to present significant problems for content authenticity going forward. It'due south ever been possible to edit photographs and false video — Stalin was notorious for this kind of affair, long before Photoshop existed. Previously, however, these edits required a substantial level of expertise. Going frontwards, they very well may not.

That, in turn, could forcefulness a reevaluation of the primacy nosotros put on video show. Today, having video of something is often treated as tantamount to having proven it. In the futurity, that may not be the case. Equally AI and deep learning go on to advance, the sophistication of such fakery will abound, and spotting the differences volition be increasingly difficult to do.