Dutch celebrities, politicians popping up in deepfake porn
Dozens of Dutch celebrities, parliamentarians, and members of the Royal Family - all women - appear in deepfake porn videos that have been viewed tens of thousands of times, AD reports. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) urged victims to report the videos to the police. Management agencies and authorities are trying to get the images offline.
Victims include Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma, former police spokesperson Ellie Lust, singers and presenters, and parliamentarians from BBB, D66, GroenLinks-PvdA, PvdD, and VVD. There are also artists, presenters of NOS, SBS6, and ESPN, Olympic athletes, Ministers and former Ministers, and members of the Royal Family.
Deepfakes are created with AI technology. Uploaders replace the face of a porn actress with the face of a famous person. AD found dozens of Dutch women on Platform S, a site that attracts 13 million visitors every month.
Without government intervention, everyone could eventually end up in deepfake porn, cyber experts told AD. Victims don’t get the right help because the legislation is behind the technology, tech lawyer Jelle Wieringa said.
“It is time for this to be widely reported in the media because things are going from bad to worse,” SBS6 presenter Sylvana IJsselmuiden, one of the victims, said to the newspaper. Her video has been viewed almost 20,000 times. She is considering going to the police after her own attempts to get the video taken down failed.
Deepfakes are considered revenge porn and are punishable. Victims can file a police report, leading to an investigation. That could result in the Public Prosecution Service (OM) attempting to shut the site down if the examining magistrate determines the criminal offenses committed are severe enough for a suspect to be arrested, the OM told AD.
Victims can also start a mass claim, file a complaint with the AP for privacy violations, or contact the hosting providers and ask them to intervene. “They have a policy that obliges them to intervene in illegal activities on websites they host,” tech lawyer Jan Gerrit Kroon said.
The D66 has requested a parliamentary debate on the matter. “Deepfakes are a big problem. Money is made on the backs of victims with these fake videos. These companies and creators should not avoid responsibility, and people should be protected by removal as quickly as possible,” D66 MP Joost Sneller said.
“Making and distributing these types of images is rancid, offensive, and also punishable,” the VVD said. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, told AD that these are “disgusting practices” and it supports MPs in filing police reports.
