Dozens of deepfake porn videos of Dutch celebs, politicians taken offline
In recent weeks, the Dutch authorities and cyber security companies have managed to take dozens of deepfake porn videos featuring Dutch celebrities, parliamentarians, and members of the Royal family offline. A victory - some of those videos have been online for years and were viewed over 100,000 times, AD reports.
Last month, the newspaper revealed that it found deepfake pornography of between 70 and 80 prominent Dutch women on Platform S, a porn site with Russian and Canadian backers. Fifteen of the involved women have pressed charges, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed to the newspaper. Among them are politicians Caroline van der Plas (BBB), Mirjam Bikker (ChristenUnie), and Eline Vedder (CDA).
Vedder told AD that she got the advice to keep quiet and not draw attention to the video featuring herself. “The advice to keep quiet about it makes me furious. Far too often, victims have to remain silent about what is done to them, including me. No more!” Vedder said.
Other women decided not to go to the police but tried other routes to get the videos taken down, for example through the Dutch Data Protection Authority or by suing the uploaders directly. That has worked for most.
According to AD, all videos featuring Dutch MPs are gone, and there hasn’t been a single new one featuring a well-known Dutch woman since the public outcry, indicating that uploaders don’t want to risk the attention. There are still videos online featuring several Dutch actresses and presenters of NOS, RTL, and SBS6.
The women who have filed a report have not yet heard anything from the OM, they told AD. According to the newspaper, they’re pleased that most of the videos featuring Dutch women have been removed from Platform S.
