Scarlett Johansson speaks out against fake AI-generated sex videos
Actress Scarlett Johansson is speaking out against fake AI-generated sex videos online.
"Avengers" star Scarlett Johansson is one of many women and several stars who've been targeted by sex videos generated by artificial intelligence.
In these "deepfake" clips, images of women's faces — including that of Johansson, 34 — are super-imposed on pornographic videos and images.
The Washington Post reports that one "deepfake" video in which Johansson's face is visible has been viewed over 1.5 million times on one porn site alone. The fake video was falsely labeled as "leaked" footage.
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"Nothing can stop someone from cutting and pasting my image or anyone else's onto a different body and making it look as eerily realistic as desired," the actress told WaPo. "The fact is that trying to protect yourself from the Internet and its depravity is basically a lost cause ... The Internet is a vast wormhole of darkness that eats itself."
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Johansson isn't the only celebrity to be subjected to "deepfakes" — "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot has also been subjected to it. There is, however, a stark difference in how male and female stars' images are used: Male celebrity images typically aren't used for pornographic purposes, with one popular clip has Nicolas Cage's face super-imposed on Donald Trump for humor, not titillation.
The legal protections for "deepfake" pornographic images and videos are limited.
According to The Washington Post, copyright laws that often protect subjects of revenge porn (including celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, who had nude photos stolen and published by a hacker) may not apply if public images are used because they're covered under the First Amendment. What's more, the origins of the deepfakes are often difficult to trace.
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However, lawyers told the outlet that online harassment, defamation, cyber stalking and revenge porn laws may apply, and if a deepfake image creator or distributor's identity is found out, cease and desists, identity theft laws and takedown notices may be able to help.
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