The news stories keep flooding out on tech blogs. Another celebrity's face plastered on a pornstar’s body. Another deepfake porn video, the latest technological threat to the women of the world and the women of the future.

Unfortunately, actresses like Scarlett Johansson, Gal Gadot, and countless others have little recourse for the crimes that were committed against them. And, no surprise, male actors aren’t nearly as affected by the problem.

These are crimes that aren’t being treated as crimes.

There are many laws that could, theoretically, protect both public and non-public women from deepfake victimization. But most of them miss the mark in terms of protecting women.

Some have suggested copyright laws could protect famous actresses. After all, the deepfake artist must use hundreds to thousands of images to create their fake videos. But proving where those images came from is likely impossible. No good.

One could argue that deepfake artists who are monetizing their porn videos could be leveraging a celebrity identity for personal gain. In other words, people have a right to keep on their image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation. 

The problem is - this would only be an issue if you misrepresented the videos as being real. For example, a misleading deepfake video of Emma Watson promoting a product. Plus, media companies use celebrity names and images all the time for financial gain. Saturday Night Live impressions, YouTube creators, and really everywhere.

Some have suggested revenge porn laws could protect women. This certainly could apply to non-public figures. But realistically only two states, California and Virginia, have amended revenge porn laws to include deepfake porn. But since most deepfake porn sites try to pretend they are for “Entertainment Purposes,” those sites may be able to circumvent revenge porn laws for celebrities.

So you see the problem. There are laws that come close to making deepfake pornography illegal, but there is nothing concrete. I propose we make Deepfake pornography illegal on the basis of CONSENT. 

These deepfake creators are using images to create a sexual fantasy without the consent of the victim. 

Under this new type of law, it doesn’t matter where the deepfake porn creator got the images, whether they are getting paid for the video, or if the woman is a celebrity or not. If you create a sexual video of a person without their consent, it should be illegal! No grey area.

Join the fight against deepfake pornography and the fight against the objectification of women!

1. Contact your elected officials with a powerful message https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials 

2. Sign up for www.change.org and support causes for women like this one 

3. Attack existing deepfake pornography websites. This includes spamming them with complaints, DDoS attacks, and anything you can do to hinder them. Below is a list of the worst offenders (links are not safe for work, obviously).

• www.mrdeepfakes.com

• www.adultdeepfakes.com

• www.bestdeepfake.porn

• www.deepfake-porn.com/