Recommendations of the Editorial team
The debate about digital violence and deepfake porn is not new – at least not for Collien Fernandes. As early as 2024, the presenter and actress began researching the dark corners of the Internet for the ZDF documentary “Die Spur: Deepfake Porn”. She wanted to understand who was behind the clips that supposedly showed the presenter in sexual or even inhumane situations.
Fake profiles and AI porn with celebrities
In the two-part documentary, which is currently also in the ZDF media library for free streaming Fernandes examined how AI-generated pornography is created. She discovered that she also had an AI model available online that allows people to download the presenter’s face to other people’s pictures. During their research, Fernandes and the investigative journalist Marie Bröckling came across a number of providers who, in exchange for money, produce content to live out sexual fantasies or humiliate women such as ex-partners or other acquaintances.
According to the journalist’s research, creating good deepfakes requires time, technical knowledge and suitable image data. Accordingly, some users have specialized in this. They offer their services openly in chat groups and internet forums.
Fernandes is not alone with the problem. Manipulated videos of celebrities regularly appear on relevant deepfake porn sites. For example, you can find content that shows a supposed Emma Watson, Taylor Swift or German presenters such as Mareile Höppner and Lola Weippert.
Awareness of injustice is often low
Many consumers and even some manufacturers believe that they are not harming anyone because the recordings are technically generated and do not show any real action. However, for those affected, it feels completely different. In the documentary they report that they were ashamed of the manipulated content and even had to justify it in private. Users also write wild insults in the comments under the videos. It seems like they can’t distinguish reality from deepfake.
Fernandes also describes in the documentary how stressful it is when deceptively real pornographic images containing one’s own face circulate on the Internet. And that’s exactly why the topic of victims is described drastically. The term “virtual rape” is intended to illustrate how profound the invasion of personal dignity is felt.
Can we take action against deepfakes?
Legally, the situation is complicated. At the time, at ZDF’s request, the Federal Ministry of Justice pointed out that such content could be tracked under certain circumstances. In practice, however, procedures are often discontinued – among other things because they are not real recordings. The ZDF documentary therefore comes to a sobering conclusion: For many of those affected, it is extremely difficult to take action against the production of deepfake porn. If you’re lucky, you can at least delete them from relevant portals.
