Zhwlya Azad
A female gamer spoke out about her disturbing experience with x-rated deep fakes. A prominent gaming YouTuber, she had to pay a considerable amount to remove content that falsely portrayed her involvement in explicit activities. This unjust practice is unacceptable and must be stopped.
Sunpi is a renowned YouTube personality, recognized for her captivating content that focuses on video games and gaming culture.
As she travels to various destinations to explore new titles, share her reactions to the latest games, and exhibit her gaming setup, her videos epitomize her love for gaming.
Through her enthusiastic approach to the gaming industry, Sunpi has garnered a dedicated following. Her content not only showcases her love for gaming, but also offers valuable insights such as new release reviews, trend analysis, gaming news, and interviews with fellow gamers.
Having built a devoted following with her fervor for the gaming industry, Sunpi’s success took a hit recently upon discovering the existence of explicit deep fake content featuring her image. Despite this setback, her impressive content continues to attract a following of over 117,000 subscribers.
The female gamer was forced to pay a substantial amount to remove the content due to the malicious misuse of technology that endangered her reputation.
Sophisticated manipulations of images or videos known as deep fakes are often produced without the subject’s consent or knowledge, to create a false impression that they are depicted in the content.
During an interview with The Independent, Sunpi shared that she couldn’t bring herself to watch the deep fake video that used her image. The images she had already seen were highly realistic and convincing, leaving her unsettled.
She said: “My heart just dropped. I felt ashamed and disgusted. I rang my mum and cried. She was really, really angry. I looked at the pictures, and oh my god, they looked so real. You don’t want to show people, even though you are not showing yourself. It’s taking away power from me. If I wanted to put that content out I would.”
Sunpi quickly took legal action to remove the deep fake content, but it cost her around £500 ($618) in legal fees.
Although the content had been removed successfully, she expressed that the existence of the deep fake material had caused significant distress, as the damage had already been inflicted.
Sunpi has unfortunately faced multiple instances of finding her image online without consent. Last year, she discovered some content featuring her that, while not explicit, was still worrying. She took the matter seriously and reported it to the police, hoping to have it removed.
She said: “They said they would investigate but I never heard anything from them.”
Having dealt with the authorities before, she saw no reason to seek their help regarding the latest issue with deep fakes.
She described the impact the creations have had on her, stating: I find it hard to sleep because I want to search to see if there is any more. I keep waking up. I feel anxious. I keep googling my name and deep fake to check everything out it is gone. These days, if you wear a skirt people think you are asking for it and you deserve it. People say: ‘What do you expect, you wear miniskirts. You wear tight dresses.”
“It is very, very anxiety-inducing. Sometimes it makes you second guess yourself, you think ‘Am I doing something wrong for this to happen?’ But people have a right to wear what they want and to feel sexy without someone editing their pictures,” added Sunpi.
Expressing her frustration, Sunpi emphasized the need for more effective mechanisms to remove deep fake content and bear the financial burden. Her call to action highlights the urgent need for robust measures to tackle the proliferation of deep fakes and revenge x-rated content.
Praising PornHub for taking proactive measures against revenge porn and deep fakes, Sunpi commended the website’s efficient reporting tool that enables victims to have such content removed instantly.
She said: “I feel like all sites should have that tool. The law needs to be stronger to tackle this issue. A couple of months ago, there was a huge blow-up on a site which just had deepfake porn of gamers and so many of the women gamers were on there.”
An amendment to the Online Safety Bill proposed by the UK government aims to tackle the rising threat of deep fakes. Those who distribute deep fakes may face imprisonment if the amendment is passed.
Do you think this female gamer did well to pay to remove them? What do you think about the proposed amendment to the UK government to combat the spread of deep fakes? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
