Headline Roundup • January 29th, 2024
X Blocks Searches for 'Taylor Swift' After Surge of Graphic AI Deepfakes
Technology,AI,Taylor Swift,Business,Social Media,X,Twitter,Deepfakes,Arts And Entertainment,Women's Issues,Content Moderation
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Searches for “Taylor Swift” and “Taylor Swift AI” on X yielded no results on Monday after the social media platform was hit with a surge of fake AI-generated graphic images of the singer.
Key Quote: In a statement, X head of business operations Joe Benarroch said, “This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.”
The Details: Affected search terms were reportedly limited; searches for “‘Taylor Swift’” in quotes, “Taylor AI Swift,” and “Taylor AND Swift” each reportedly resulted in normal search results. Meta also appeared to respond to the fake images; search results for “Taylor Swift AI” on Instagram were hidden behind a disclaimer saying they were “sometimes associated with activities of dangerous organizations and individuals.”
For Context: The surge of fake Swift images drew attention from the media, politicians, and even the White House over the weekend, calling attention to the risks of AI technology. Responding to the “alarming and terrible” fake images, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said “we have to act” to implement “guardrails” on AI and ensure “the online world is a safe world.”
How the Media Covered It: Some outlets rated Lean Left by AllSides highlighted the ease of getting around the blocked search terms, potentially reflecting skeptical attitudes about X, formerly Twitter, under Elon Musk’s ownership. Fox News (Right bias) stood out by starting its article by tying Swift to her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Getty Images
Taylor Swift continued to be the most talked about woman on the Internet on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs were declared Super Bowl bound.
Despite Travis Kelce and Swift being at the forefront of trends, X still had her name blocked from the search function on its platform.
The decision to keep Taylor's name unsearchable on X began earlier in the week after it was discovered that sexually explicit AI-generated images were circulating on the social media network.
The social media platform X has blocked users from searching for Taylor Swift after fake sexually explicit images of the pop singer proliferated on social media this week, an executive said on Sunday.
Searches for Swift's name on Sunday afternoon on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter yielded the error message, "Something went wrong. Try reloading."
"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.
The Verge
X has blocked searches for Taylor Swift in reaction to a recent trend of graphic AI fakes of the world-famous recording artist being posted to the site. Right now, if you search “Taylor Swift” or “Taylor Swift AI” on X, formerly Twitter, you may see a “Something went wrong” message. X head of business Joe Benarroch acknowledged the “temporary” measure, meant to “prioritize safety,” according to The Wall Street Journal. But it’s very easy to get around, as we found out when trying some searches after Platformer’s Casey Newton posted about the block yesterday.
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