Sexual deepfakes and sextortion
Offenders can use AI tools to turn ordinary photos or videos of a person into fake explicit images ("deepfakes"). They circulate them to harass the person, or use them to demand money or more images ("sextortion") (FBI IC3).
What official agencies advise
- Do not pay. The FBI advises not to give money or other items of value to people you do not know, and warns that complying with the demands does not guarantee your images will not be shared (FBI IC3).
- Keep the information and report it straight away: keep all information about the incident, such as usernames, email addresses and the websites or platforms used, and report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov (FBI IC3).
- Crimes against children should be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, through its CyberTipline (FBI IC3).
- If the images were taken when you were under 18, the free Take It Down service can help remove or stop their online sharing on platforms that have agreed to participate. For explicit images of you from when you were 18 or older, it points to StopNCII.org.
- In the United States, under the Take It Down Act certain platforms, such as social media and photo and video sharing sites, must take down intimate images shared without consent, real or AI-generated, within 48 hours of your request. If a platform fails to act, you can report it to the FTC (FTC).
- In Australia, people under 18 are advised to report it to the ACCCE (Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation), and people over 18 can report it to the eSafety Commissioner (NSW Government).
- Search results: Google has a removal request where you can ask for sexual images of you, whether fake or real, to be removed from Google Search results.
- To reduce the risk, use privacy settings on social media accounts, including making your profile and friends lists private, to limit the public exposure of your photos and videos (FBI IC3).
Sources
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, "Malicious Actors Manipulating Photos and Videos to Create Explicit Content and Sextortion Schemes" (5 June 2023).
- US Federal Trade Commission, "FTC Enforces Compliance With the Take It Down Act".
- NSW Government, "Don't be sextorted".