Elon Musk’s social media platform X, previously called Twitter, has stopped people from searching for Taylor Swift due to fake and inappropriate images of the singer circulating online.
When users tried to search for her name, they got an error message and were asked to try again, with a note saying it wasn’t their fault. Even searching for variations of her name like “taylorswift” led to the same error messages.
Recently, fake and hurtful images of Swift started spreading widely on X, making her a target of this harmful trend that tech companies and anti-abuse groups struggle to control.
Joe Benarroch, who oversees business operations at X, explained that they blocked the searches temporarily to prioritize safety. They want to be cautious about this issue.
X has stopped people from searching for Taylor Swift due to fake and inappropriate images
Swift’s fans, known as “Swifties,” quickly responded by flooding X with positive images of her and using the hashtag #ProtectTaylorSwift. They also reported accounts sharing the fake images.
A group called Reality Defender, which works to spot deepfakes, noticed a flood of inappropriate images of Swift, especially on X. Some of these images also made their way to Facebook and other social media sites.
Researchers have observed an increase in explicit deepfake images over the years. This is because the technology to create them has become more accessible and easier to use. In a report from 2019, most of the victims of these fake images were women, including Hollywood actors and K-pop singers from South Korea.
