In a stunning move, social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has blocked any searches for Taylor Swift’s name in the fallout from grotesque AI images of the singer circulating widely on the site last week.
Searches for Swift’s name on Monday morning 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. There are rumors that Swift’s legal team could be planning legal action.
One image of Swift shared on X was viewed 47 million times before the account was suspended, according to a New York Times report. The company was widely criticized for its seemingly slow response to the emergence of the pictures, eventually suspending the account where they originated.
Since billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he has been criticized for his own controversial posts and his efforts to overhaul the platform’s content moderation policies. Many advertisers on the platform have pulled back spending, fearful of appearing next to harmful posts.
An X executive said that the drastic action to block all searches of Taylor Swift’s name was ‘temporary’ as the company seeks to ‘prioritize safety’
This is the message that greets users who attempt to search for Swift on X
The message assures users that it isn’t their fault that Swift content isn’t coming up on search
The singer is the seventh most followed person on X. At the time of writing, users cannot even look up her profile. Despite being so popular, Swift has only posted 816 messages. By comparison, number six on the list, her former love rival Katy Perry, has posted 12,000 tweets.
Videos of Swift, celebrating with boyfriend Travis Kelce after he helped the Kansas City Chiefs reach the Super Bowl Sunday night still appear under media search as do lists relating to Swift’s superfans on the site.
Ironically, the media tab is where all the highly explicit AI-generated pictures initially surfaced before X started suspending accounts that had reshared them last week.
Following the publication of the vile images, Swift’s ardent fanbase of Swifties quickly mobilized, launching a counteroffensive on the platform formerly known as Twitter and a #ProtectTaylorSwift hashtag to flood it with more positive images of the pop star.
Some said they were reporting accounts that were sharing the deepfakes.
The deepfake-detecting group Reality Defender said it tracked a deluge of nonconsensual pornographic material depicting Swift, particularly on X. Some images also made their way to Meta-owned Facebook and other social media platforms.
Travis Kelce kisses girlfriend Taylor after leading his Chiefs team to a place in the Super Bowl
America’s favorite couple had a moment to celebrate with the eyes of the world on them
Media searches for Swift still appear, however that was the same section where the deepfake images was first seen
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the fake images ‘alarming’ on Friday, and said social media companies have a responsibility to prevent the spread of such misinformation.
Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing that lax enforcement against false images, possibly created by artificial intelligence (AI), disproportionately affects women.
A source close to Swift said: ‘Whether or not legal action will be taken is being decided but there is one thing that is clear: these fake AI generated images are abusive, offensive, exploitative, and done without Taylor’s consent and knowledge.
They said: ‘The Twitter account that posted them does not exist anymore. It is shocking that the social media platform even let them be up to begin with.
‘These images must be removed from everywhere they exist and should not be promoted by anyone.
‘Taylor’s circle of family and friends are furious, as are her fans obviously. They have the right to be, and every woman should be.
‘The door needs to be shut on this. Legislation needs to be passed to prevent this and laws must be enacted.’
The abhorrent sites hide in plain sight, seemingly cloaked by proxy IP addresses.
X posted a statement nearly a day after the images started being posted, saying: ‘Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them.’
A Meta spokesman told DailyMail.com: ‘This content violates our policies and we’re removing it from our platforms and taking action against accounts that posted it.
‘We’re continuing to monitor and if we identify any additional violating content we’ll remove it and take appropriate action.’