Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google has introduced new measures to combat the spread of explicit deepfake content in its search results.
What Happened: In a blog post on Thursday product manager at Google, Emma Higham, said that the tech giant is introducing new online safety features designed to simplify the removal of explicit deepfakes from Search and prevent them from ranking highly in results.
“These protections have already proven to be successful in addressing other types of non-consensual imagery, and we’ve now built the same capabilities for fake explicit images as well,” she stated.
Google is also modifying its Search rankings to better manage queries that carry a higher risk of surfacing explicit fake content. Sites that receive a significant number of removals for fake explicit imagery will be demoted in Google Search rankings.
The company disclosed that previous updates have reduced exposure to explicit image results on queries specifically looking for deepfake content by over 70% this year.
Google is also working on distinguishing between real and fake explicit content so that legitimate images can still be surfaced while demoting deepfakes.
“While differentiating between this content is a technical challenge for search engines, we’re making ongoing improvements to better surface legitimate content and downrank explicit fake content,” Higham noted.
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Why It Matters: In January this year, AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift, which were circulated widely on Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter triggered a major uproar.
While the platform eventually removed those images, the incident provoked a wider concern among users, tech behemoths, and lawmakers alike.
Last month, U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill, the Take It Down Act, mandating social media companies like Meta Platforms Inc. META and X to remove such images from their platforms.
Earlier this month, Meta’s internal Oversight Board called for clearer regulations against AI-generated pornographic content. This followed the identification of two pornographic deepfakes of prominent women on Meta’s platforms.
Musk’s social media network X also witnessed a disturbing surge in pornographic content, causing discomfort among its users. The platform subsequently revised its content policy to include an opt-in mechanism for adult content.
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