Pornhub Bans ‘Deepfakes’ Porn as ‘Non-Consensual’

Recently, popular websites including Twitter, Reddit and various image hosting platforms began removing porn videos that had been digitally altered to swap adult performers’ faces with those of someone else’s.  Called the Deepfakes phenomenon by Motherboard, the “lookalike” content most often features celebrities’ faces stitched onto porn stars in action.  Now, adult site Pornhub is following suit and banning such altered content, comparing deepfakes to revenge porn.

“We do not tolerate any nonconsensual content on the site and we remove all said content as soon as we are made aware of it,” Pornhub said to Motherboard in a statement.

“We do not tolerate any nonconsensual content on the site and we remove all said content as soon as we are made aware of it,” a spokesperson told me in an email. “Nonconsensual content directly violates our TOS [terms of service] and consists of content such as revenge porn, deepfakes or anything published without a person’s consent or permission.” Pornhub previously told Mashable that it has removed deepfakes that are flagged by users.

Pornhub’s ruling on deepfakes is similar to statements issued by Discord and Gfycat. Reddit has also classified it as a form of “involuntary pornography.” Interestingly, though, Reddit’s doesn’t affect all AI-based face swapping enthusiasts. The Verge notes:

The subreddit for FakeApp, a program that allows anyone to swap faces in videos, is still online. So is r/SFWdeepfakes, which is devoted to non-pornographic use of the technology — likeputting Nicolas Cage in every movie.

Pornhub’s decision on Deepfakes is, however, firmly in line with its existing TOS, which prohibit content that “impersonates another person or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person.”