Deep fakes are getting quite common and many people are misusing AI technology for negative purposes. People are making deep fakes of politicians, celebrities and other media personalities and spreading them on social media. The American Sunlight Project (ASP) found that women politicians are 70 times more likely to become exposed to deep fakes than men politicians. ASP analyzed 35,000 politicians and found that 26 of them have been exposed to deep fakes and their non-consensual intimate imagery went viral on social media.
Out of those 26 politicians, 25 of them were women, while most of them were from Congress. Congress has been working on passing bills that can help women take actions against their non-consensual imagery through the Defiance Act. But this act is still waiting for approval and there's no set date about when it will be approved. A study by Center for Countering Digital Hate also found that women politicians are more likely to receive hate comments on social media with one in ten comments being hateful and toxic under Instagram posts of women politicians. Instagram doesn't seem to take action against those hateful comments though, with 93% reports of hateful commenting being ignored by Instagram.
When ASP came up with the analysis and informed politicians about their deep fakes on the internet, they removed them but this isn't the solution. Nina Jankowicz, an online harassment expert, said that simply removing deep fakes of politicians won't be enough and this needs a proper legislative reckoning. As she herself was a victim of online abuse, she has made it her mission to protect women of all kinds on the internet from hateful comments and deep fakes.
Research has also found that 41% of women censor themselves on the internet so they can avoid any abuse or harassment from other people. This shows that not only women politicians, but also women from every profession and color need protection from technology and there needs to be a proper system that can combat this issue and punish the offenders. Where technology is opening many gates of success for us, it is also important to know that any misuse of this technology can have disastrous effects.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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Out of those 26 politicians, 25 of them were women, while most of them were from Congress. Congress has been working on passing bills that can help women take actions against their non-consensual imagery through the Defiance Act. But this act is still waiting for approval and there's no set date about when it will be approved. A study by Center for Countering Digital Hate also found that women politicians are more likely to receive hate comments on social media with one in ten comments being hateful and toxic under Instagram posts of women politicians. Instagram doesn't seem to take action against those hateful comments though, with 93% reports of hateful commenting being ignored by Instagram.
When ASP came up with the analysis and informed politicians about their deep fakes on the internet, they removed them but this isn't the solution. Nina Jankowicz, an online harassment expert, said that simply removing deep fakes of politicians won't be enough and this needs a proper legislative reckoning. As she herself was a victim of online abuse, she has made it her mission to protect women of all kinds on the internet from hateful comments and deep fakes.
Research has also found that 41% of women censor themselves on the internet so they can avoid any abuse or harassment from other people. This shows that not only women politicians, but also women from every profession and color need protection from technology and there needs to be a proper system that can combat this issue and punish the offenders. Where technology is opening many gates of success for us, it is also important to know that any misuse of this technology can have disastrous effects.
Read next: This CEO Prioritizes Practical Problem-Solving Over Interviews for Hiring
