Meta board examines management AI-produced celebrity erotica

Advancements in AI technology have reached a point where fabricated images, audio clips, and videos closely mimic real human-created content, leading to a surge in fake sexual material flooding the internet, primarily targeting women and girls. Recently, a notable incident occurred on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, where access to all images of U.S. pop star Taylor Swift was briefly restricted due to the platform’s struggle to contain the spread of fake explicit images of her.

Meta Platforms‘ Oversight Board is currently scrutinizing the company’s response to two sexually explicit AI-generated images of female celebrities circulating on Facebook and Instagram. The board, operating independently from Meta despite being funded by it, aims to evaluate Meta’s overall effectiveness in handling pornographic fakes generated through artificial intelligence. While describing the images under review, the board opted not to disclose the identities of the famous women depicted to prevent further harm, according to a spokesperson.

The emergence of AI-driven “deep fakes” has prompted calls from some industry leaders for legislation to criminalize their creation and compel tech companies to prevent their dissemination. Descriptions provided by the Oversight Board outline two cases: one involves an AI-generated nude image resembling a public figure from India, shared on an Instagram account exclusively posting such images of Indian women. The other image, found in a Facebook group dedicated to sharing AI creations, depicts a nude woman resembling an American public figure being groped by a man.

Meta initially removed the image featuring the American woman for violating its policy against bullying and harassment, which prohibits derogatory sexualized photoshops or drawings. However, Meta initially left the image depicting the Indian woman untouched, only reversing its decision after the Oversight Board selected it for review. Meta has since acknowledged the cases and committed to implementing the decisions made by the board.