New York Seizes a Dozen Celebrity Deepfake Websites

In the biggest-ever legal action against harmful deepfake websites, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has seized 12 sites that collectively targeted around 1,200 victims. For the best part of a decade, abusive deepfake "pornography" websites have published thousands of nonconsensual videos depicting women, including high-profile celebrities, politicians, and public figures, into sexual situations. Now, in what is likely the largest takedown of explicit deepfake websites to date, officials in New York have seized more than a dozen of the harmful sites. On Monday, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced the seizure of 12 domains which it says have been used for "unlawfully" sharing, publishing, and selling celebrity deepfake videos. Around 1,200 people--overwhelmingly women--were depicted in nonconsensual sexual images and videos on the websites, the office says.