"My Face Was Stolen": A Theoretical Exploration of Deepfake Pornography


Pearl Phoebe Kimberly, University of British Columbia

The creation of synthetically manufactured media known as “deepfakes” refers to the non-consensual superimposition of a person’s face onto another’s body– usually, this process requires the employment of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically known as deep learning (DL) algorithms to manipulate both visuals and acoustics. The subsequent imitation is often virtually indistinguishable from undoctored content and the technological competency necessary for an individual to generate deepfake media is ceaselessly minimized with use. The ability to generate hyper-realistic synthetic media of individuals acting or saying things they never did brings with it unprecedented opportunities for deception. Thus, this has given a rapid rise to deepfake pornography as a phenomenon, in which DL technology is used to overlay a person’s face onto pornographic media (Öhman, 2019, p.133). A 2019 report released by Deeptrace found that out of 14,678 Deepfake videos found online, 96% are pornographic in nature (Adjer et al., 2019 p.1-2). Women have historically been immediate targets for hostile adaptations of evolving technologies and current trends indicate that deepfake pornography is no anomaly (Jane, 2016; Harwell, 2018; Melville, 2019). That said, the rapid transformation of artificial intelligence means that the existing body of scholarly literature has not expanded far beyond explorations of physical sexual violations. It is imperative that we conceptualize and concretely define deepfake pornography in relation to the overall experience of sexual violation, articulating a comprehensive understanding of the way its creation and distribution affect those targeted. This paper will draw from two primary frameworks: (1) Michel Foucaults accounts of power and constructive discursive practices to explore the institutions, and discourses that have justified the existence and perpetuation of deepfake pornography online. I argue that when power is exercised through technological mediums, such as deepfakes, the subject is rendered desirable precisely due to the mediation of the technology. In other words, I believe that the medium used to portray the subject plays a significant role in the objectification of the subject. (2) Linda Alcoffs concept of sexual subjectivity, as sexual violation is far from homogenous and normative; there are substantially diverse stances among survivors specifically on where to draw the fine line that separates harmless sexual exchanges from sexual transgressions. I will expand her articulations of sexual violation as an interpretive experience to the phenomenon of deepfake pornography. Furthermore, I am primarily interested in a Foucauldian interpretation of power as a collection of forced relations, constantly mobile and evolving within the sphere in which they operate. For Foucault, discourse is a primary site of power; thus, I consider each online discourse pertaining to deepfake pornography as a technique in which power is exercised. Accordingly, I will be supplementing my theoretical exploration with discussions of specific prominent online discourses concerning deepfake pornography to hopefully address these questions: do posting pictures of yourself on social media automatically extend to giving consent for the creation of deepfake porn? Should this be an expected reality for young girls and women in this new digital era? How does deepfake pornography create a new foundation that restructures the way women are sexually objectified? And how can we categorize the emergence of deepfake pornography as a type of gendered sexual violence? Ultimately, my aim for this paper is to offer a critical perspective as to how we can navigate the complexities of deepfake pornography. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: