Taylor Swift's Online Presence Disrupted by Spread of Deepfake Explicit Images

Elon Musk's social media platform X has temporarily blocked searches for Taylor Swift after pornographic deepfake images of the singer circulated online, prompting an error message and a prompt for users to retry their search. Swift's fanbase quickly mobilized to flood the platform with positive images and launched a #ProtectTaylorSwift hashtag, while a deepfake-detecting group tracked a deluge of nonconsensual pornographic material depicting Swift on various social media platforms. The incident highlights the growing issue of explicit deepfakes, with researchers noting an increase in such images, particularly targeting women.