“Why the Controversy: All ‘Taylor Swift’ Searches Blocked on Elon Musk’s X – Here’s the Reason”

Right now, if you search for ‘Taylor Swift’ or ‘Taylor Swift AI’ on X, you will see a message, ‘Something went wrong. Try reloading’

Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has blocked users from searching for the name of Taylor Swift, a popular American singer. This drastic measure was taken in response to the circulation of sexually explicit deepfakes of the singer on the platform. Right now, if you search for “Taylor Swift” or “Taylor Swift AI” on X, you will see the message, “Something went wrong. Try reloading.

As per a report by The Wall Street Journal, X’s head of business Joe Benarroch acknowledged the “temporary” measure, meant to “prioritize safety”.

For the unaware, deepfakes are manipulated videos or audio recordings or images that use artificial intelligence to make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something they never did. As reported by The New York Times, this fake AI-generated graphics gathered over 47 million views on X.

After the fake AI images surfaced on the internet, X posted: “Posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content. Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them. We’re closely monitoring the situation to ensure that any further violations are immediately addressed, and the content is removed. We’re committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users.”

White House also issued a statement on the issue. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during a press briefing, “This is very alarming. And so, we’re going to do what we can to deal with this issue.”

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, in a recent interview with NBC, said that the issue of deepfakes is “alarming and terrible”. He added, “I think it behooves us to move fast on this.” He also emphasised that there is a need of “guardrails” to combat the issue and to ensure safe content is produced online.

Notably, Taylor Swift is not the only celebrity who fell prey to deepfakes. Actresses like Rasmika Mandanna, Kajol, Alia Bhatt and even business tycoon Ratan Tata have also faced this scourge.

India witnessed several such cases in the past one year. At the G20 virtual summit, PM Narendra Modi advocated for “global regulations for AI” to ensure its responsible development and mitigate the harms posed by deepfakes. He stressed on the importance of understanding the dangers deepfakes present to individuals and society as a whole.