Sep 30, 2026 11:40 PM
(This post was last modified: Sep 30, 2026 11:44 PM by C C.)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1145964
INTRO: For the first time, researchers have identified and named the key players facilitating the growing problem of AI-generated explicit sexual imagery online.
The creation and sharing of AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery (AI-NCII) has increased rapidly due to the ease with which the content can be generated and shared via websites, social media and private messaging platforms, many with end-to-end encryption.
In 2023, estimates suggested 500, 000 such videos existed online. By 2025, this number was estimated to be 8 million, mostly targeting women and girls. The study entitled ‘The Backbone of Abuse’, published in the Journal of Online Trust and Safety, is led by Sarah Morgan from Lancaster University with co-authors Dr Sophie Nightingale, also from Lancaster, and Professor Hany Farid of Dartmouth College.
Sarah Morgan said: “Anyone with a single photo online can be quickly and easily targeted in content that falsely depicts them in sexual or intimate contexts, of any nature, without their consent. Emerging evidence demonstrates the wide-ranging and persistent harms of this digital abuse.”
In 2024, an investigation by Channel 4 News found that almost four thousand famous people were listed on five of the most visited deepfake pornography websites. These included female actors, journalists, musicians, TV stars and YouTubers whose faces were superimposed onto pornographic material using AI. In addition, industry analysis showed there were over four billion views of 40 of the most visited deepfake pornography sites.
This research is the first attempt to identify and name the key players facilitating —either knowingly or unknowingly— the technological infrastructure holding up sites hosting AI-NCII. Infrastructure refers to the technologies and architecture - such as website hosting, domain name servers, and content delivery networks - that enable a website to deliver content to users and without which sites cannot successfully function.
In addition, the team captured contextual data relating to each site, finding that some sites hosted hundreds of thousands of such videos, and sites primarily targeted Hollywood and Hindi-film industry stars, K-pop idols, and well-known feminists and activists, with nearly all content featuring females... (MORE - no ads)
INTRO: For the first time, researchers have identified and named the key players facilitating the growing problem of AI-generated explicit sexual imagery online.
The creation and sharing of AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery (AI-NCII) has increased rapidly due to the ease with which the content can be generated and shared via websites, social media and private messaging platforms, many with end-to-end encryption.
In 2023, estimates suggested 500, 000 such videos existed online. By 2025, this number was estimated to be 8 million, mostly targeting women and girls. The study entitled ‘The Backbone of Abuse’, published in the Journal of Online Trust and Safety, is led by Sarah Morgan from Lancaster University with co-authors Dr Sophie Nightingale, also from Lancaster, and Professor Hany Farid of Dartmouth College.
Sarah Morgan said: “Anyone with a single photo online can be quickly and easily targeted in content that falsely depicts them in sexual or intimate contexts, of any nature, without their consent. Emerging evidence demonstrates the wide-ranging and persistent harms of this digital abuse.”
In 2024, an investigation by Channel 4 News found that almost four thousand famous people were listed on five of the most visited deepfake pornography websites. These included female actors, journalists, musicians, TV stars and YouTubers whose faces were superimposed onto pornographic material using AI. In addition, industry analysis showed there were over four billion views of 40 of the most visited deepfake pornography sites.
This research is the first attempt to identify and name the key players facilitating —either knowingly or unknowingly— the technological infrastructure holding up sites hosting AI-NCII. Infrastructure refers to the technologies and architecture - such as website hosting, domain name servers, and content delivery networks - that enable a website to deliver content to users and without which sites cannot successfully function.
In addition, the team captured contextual data relating to each site, finding that some sites hosted hundreds of thousands of such videos, and sites primarily targeted Hollywood and Hindi-film industry stars, K-pop idols, and well-known feminists and activists, with nearly all content featuring females... (MORE - no ads)