Company X lifted its search ban on Taylor Swift after AI-generated nude images of the pop star went viral. Elon Musk’s social media site sparked outrage over not doing enough to crack down on deepfakes.
“Search has been re-enabled. We remain vigilant against any attempts to spread this content and will remove it if we come across it,” the San Francisco-based company, formerly known as Twitter, said in a statement. said Joe Vanaloch, the company’s business director. told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday..
Even though the company lifted the ban on her full name late Monday night, searches for “Taylor Swift AI” remained blocked, and users received messages like this: Try reloading. ”
A nude deepfake of Swift posted on X was viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended.
Benarrock said that on Saturday, X began blocking users who searched for Swift because “we prioritize safety when it comes to this issue.”
Users could circumvent the ban by entering only the singer’s first or last name.
Company X’s search ban comes after the White House weighed in on Friday, calling the fake images “alarming” and stressing that social media companies have a responsibility to prevent the spread of such misinformation. It was conducted.
Unlike the traditional manipulated images that have plagued celebrities in the past, Swift’s images appear to have been created using an artificial intelligence image generator that can instantly create new images from written instructions.
Once the images started circulating online, the Swifties’ rabid fanbase quickly rallied together and began fighting back against X, using the hashtag #ProtectTaylorSwift to create a more positive image of the pop star. overflowed.
Some said they were reporting accounts sharing deepfakes.
Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he has faced criticism for his controversial posts, and many advertisers on the platform have refrained from spending for fear of being associated with harmful content. .
The X boss has come under fire in recent weeks for spreading anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi content on the platform.
One of Musk’s first moves in the weeks and months after taking over the company was to cut jobs in the company’s trust and safety division.
Last week, Company X announced it would hire 100 full-time employees to combat child sexual exploitation.
The company announced Friday that it will build a “trust and safety center” in Austin, Texas, and hire an “in-house agent” tasked with enforcing the site’s content and safety rules.
“While Company X does not have a children-specific business, it is important that we make these investments to continue to prevent criminals from using our platform to distribute and engage with CSE content. ” Benarroch said.
with post wire
