Explicit AI images: X blocks searches for Taylor Swift

Social media platform X took action on Sunday, blocking users from searching for Taylor Swift due to the rampant spread of fake sexually explicit images of the pop singer across the platform this week.

On Sunday afternoon, attempting to search for Swift’s name on the social media platform once known as Twitter resulted in the error message, “Something went wrong. Try reloading.”

The search restrictions come ahead of a 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) National Football League (NFL) playoff clash featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

Swift, romantically linked with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, is anticipated to be present. Broadcasts of Chiefs games frequently feature glimpses of Swift’s reactions.

“This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue,” Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, said in a statement.

Swift was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2023 after launching a record-shattering global tour and becoming the world’s most-streamed musical artist.

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed concern over the fake images, deeming them “alarming.” She emphasized that social media companies bear a responsibility to curb the dissemination of such misinformation.

During a news briefing, Jean-Pierre highlighted that lenient measures against false images, potentially generated by artificial intelligence (AI), disproportionately impact women.

One image of Swift shared on X was viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended, according to a New York Times report.

Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022, he has faced criticism for both his controversial posts and his attempts to revamp the platform’s content moderation policies. This scrutiny has led numerous advertisers to scale back spending due to concerns about their association with potentially harmful posts.

Taylor Swift is said to be considering legal action against the deepfake website that generated explicit AI images of her which circulated online, Daily Mail reports. pic.twitter.com/fQ961NdZTU

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 25, 2024

X asserts that the vast majority of content views are derived from “healthy” posts. Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have outlined a novel policy titled “freedom of speech, not reach,” which limits the distribution of certain posts without resorting to deletion.