X/Twitter forced to act as Taylor Swift fake porn row erupts again
Published: 10:18 29 Jan 2024 EST
Elon Musk said X/Twitter will take on more content moderators and set up a monitoring hub after the Taylor Swift deep fake porn furore blew up again overnight.
The social media platform had to block all searches for the pop icon after a spike in interest ahead of the NFL semi-final game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce plays for the Chiefs.
"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.
Last week, X/Twitter said it was “actively removing" all AI-generated fake porn images of Swift but not before one post had been viewed 47 million times according to a report in the New York Times.
Last week's images sparked an outcry among both fans of the singer and US politicians with renewed calls for a clampdown on young people’s access to social media.
Since its takeover by Elon Musk, X/Twitter has fired thousands of staff including a substantial number of moderators.
Linda Yaccarino, the company’s chief executive, today said 100 new moderators were being recruited while it was setting up a Trust and Safety Centre of Excellence in Austin, Texas, to take down illegal posts.
Yaccarino said: “In 2023, we made clear that our top priority was tackling [child sexual exploitation] online”.
