After the distribution of AI-generated porn images of Swift, the social network completely blocked searches about the singer.
In response to the request, X issued an error message: Something went wrong. Try reloading the page.”
“This is a temporary measure that we are taking with great care as we prioritize security in this matter,” said Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations.
The distribution of fake porn images of Swift has already been condemned by the actors’ union and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who called the abuse of AI “appalling.” Previously, the company’s market capitalization exceeded the estimate of $3 trillion for the first time, which became possible thanks to the implementation of artificial intelligence in Microsoft products and large investments in technology.
Taylor Swift became the absolute star of 2023 – concerts with her participation caused seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 earthquake, ticket sales for her concert film broke records and eventually Time magazine recognized the singer as “Person of the Year”.
According to Reuters, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre on Friday called fake porn images “disturbing” and said social networks have an obligation to prevent the spread of such misinformation. She added that the crackdown on fake AI-generated images is disproportionate and affects women the most.
According to a report by The New York Times, one of Swift’s “images” posted on X was viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended.
Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he has been criticized for his own controversial posts and attempts to revise the platform’s content moderation policy. Many advertisers refused to spend on X, worried that their ads would appear next to “harmful” posts. Last year, Musk and the social network’s CEO, Linda Jaccarino, formulated a new policy called “free speech, not reach,” which limits the distribution of some posts but refrains from removing them.
Thousands of layoffs have hit Twitter’s content moderation team, but now the social network appears to have admitted its mistake and is looking to hire 100 moderators for a new office in Austin, Texas. The Trust and Safety Center of Excellence will focus on combating content, including child abuse.
The company announced the opening of the center just ahead of a US Senate hearing on online child sexual exploitation. Linda Jaccarino is scheduled to testify on January 31, along with the CEOs of Meta, Snap, TikTok and Discord.
In a blog post Friday, X said it suspended 12.4 million accounts last year for child sexual exploitation violations, up from 2.3 million accounts in 2022, according to the company.
