The Italian prime minister is suing a man for allegedly creating a pornographic deepfake of her and uploading it to a U.S. website where it was reportedly viewed millions of times.
Deepfakes, which are realistic simulations of people commonly used to make fake pornographic videos showing female celebrities or politicians, are becoming a growing concern in countries including Canada.
One expert said they’re becoming more common because generative artificial intelligence (AI) makes them easier to create and that they contribute to misogyny, dehumanization and silencing of women.
“People (with deepfakes made of them) face significant reputational harm. They lose their sense of trust in other people,” Dalhousie Schulich School of Law Prof. Suzie Dunn told Global News from Halifax.
It’s a problem Canada is trying to help solve through the proposed Online Harms Act.
