In response to the proliferation of deepfake images of pop singer Taylor Swift on social media this week, the social media platform X has restricted users from searching for her. The company says it’s a temporary action, done “with abundant caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.”
X is the anonymous social media app bought by multibillionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and overhauled with new content moderation policies. It has been criticized for not stopping the spread of nonconsensual nudity and other inappropriate posts, with US politicians calling for laws to curb the problem.
One of the most popular ways to use X is for celebrities to build a personal connection with fans by posting daily updates on their feeds, often teasing new projects or interacting directly with followers. Celebrities are often trolled on the site, however, and can be subjected to abusive and even threatening messages from trolls and bots.
When the sexually explicit deepfake images of Swift began circulating, her fans flooded X with actual photos of the star to bury the offensive content and force the company to take action. Many accounts that posted the deepfake photos have been suspended, but the images are still on the internet and can be accessed by searching for them.
The explicit images of the pop star, who has been open about her struggles with depression and anxiety, were reportedly created using artificial intelligence. They were spread quickly online, with one image being viewed more than 47 million times on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter.
After the images appeared, a Swift rep told NBC News that Swift was alarmed and was considering legal action. The White House also called out the images on Friday and said social media companies are responsible for stopping the spread of misinformation.
Despite being banned from searching for the singer, some people were able to circumvent the ban by entering her name in quotes or rearranging related search terms. Some of the reworked searches are shown below. 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.”
The blocking of search terms is the first time that X has used such a tactic, though it was not immediately apparent whether the move would affect other terms. The head of business for X, Joe Benarroch, said the move was made “in light of the recent trend of graphic AI fakes of Taylor Swift” but that it had not been decided whether to extend the restriction to other topics or public figures. The X app has been renamed after its founder in a move to distance the company from the controversy. X was previously called Meta, and its founders also created Reddit in 2006. The name change was part of a broader revamp of the company’s branding.
