Have you ever seen a video or photo online and wondered if it was real? With AI, it’s becoming harder to tell. One of the most serious problems online is sexualized deepfakes – fake images or videos that show real people in sexual situations without their permission. These can appear on social media, apps, or even messaging groups.

This isn’t just about embarrassment. Deepfakes can seriously harm a person’s mental health, reputation, and safety. And while people often hear about deepfakes in politics, the sexualized versions mostly stay hidden – even though they affect millions.

What are deepfakes and deepnudes?

A deepfake is a photo, video, or audio clip created or changed using AI (Artificial Intelligence), so it looks real. A deepnude is a special type of deepfake that can make someone look naked, using just one photo as a blueprint. You don’t need special skills or expensive software – often a smartphone and a few seconds are enough to create these fake images. The scary part? There is no real protection, basically one image of you online is enough to create a fake deepnude.

These fake images are not an equal danger to everyone. Mostly women and girls are targeted by deepnudes, but anyone can be affected. By January 2025, over 438 million deepnude images were estimated to exist worldwide (Pedchenko 2025).

Internationally, deepfake pornography is increasingly studied under the umbrella of Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA) – a continuum of sexualized violence that includes non-consensual creation, distribution, threats, and possession of intimate images (Henry u. a. 2020; McGlynn und Rackley 2017).

Even before AI, people manipulated images to shame others, using tools such as simple photomontages or photoshop. But AI makes these attacks faster, more realistic, and easier to spread. What is more, is that even people without any specific training or skillset are now able to produce these fake images and create real harm.

 

Social media makes it worse

Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and X (Twitter) play a huge role in spreading deepfakes. Sometimes content is removed, but often the same content is just renamed or reuploaded, to circumvent filters.

Some AI tools and apps that can be used to create deepfakes are advertised openly online. In 2023, links to these tools on Reddit, X, and Telegram increased by over 2000 % (Lakatos 2023). Even when platforms claim to ban deepfakes, their enforcement is slow or incomplete, leaving victims of deepfakes feeling alone and unsupported.

This creates a culture where sexualized deepfakes start to seem normal. People might joke about them, share them in private groups, or use them for clicks and likes, which spreads the problem even further.

 

How deepfakes affect people

Reputation damage and intimidation:
Deepfakes are used to humiliate people, especially women. Journalists and public figures but also youtubers and streamers, like Rana Ayyub, QTCinderella, Pokimane and Bella Thorne, have faced massive online harassment after fake sexual videos of them were shared (Ayyub 2018; Maddocks 2020; Cole 2023; Martinello 2023). Victims often withdraw from social media or self-censor because they fear further attacks. Publicly addressing and talking about the online abuse and harassment they experienced often leads to further escalations.

Blackmail (Sextortion):
Some people use deepfakes to threaten victims into sending more private images or even money. Tragically, this is a form of crime affecting many young people – almost 5 % of U.S. teenagers aged 12–17 have experienced some form of sextortion (Raffile u. a. 2024).

School and peer pressure:
AI tools also make it easy for students to create fake sexual images of classmates. In Spain in 2023, over 30 students reportedly made deepnudes of their classmates and shared them in chat groups (Viejo 2023). Also, in Austria some cases were prosecuted, leading to the police confiscating all students' smartphones who were attending the affected school. Victims experienced fear, social isolation, and loss of trust in their school community, following the deepfake crimes.

Private threats:
Even if the images aren’t shared publicly, just knowing someone made a fake sexual image can cause distress and fear. The victim might feel constantly watched or unsafe, while not being sure what to do about the threat. This makes deepnudes especially heinous, as fake images could be created and stored on someone’s phone, without the victim even knowing.

 

AI chatbots and virtual worlds

New AI technology can create digital avatars of real people, like described before, using public photos and even voice recordings. The avatars are then often publicly available, looking and even talking like the victims whose data was used to model the avatar. These avatars can be put into sexualized scenarios in chats, online games, or virtual reality spaces. Making matters worse, many platforms allow people to pay for customized avatars, turning digital sexual violence into a business.

 

Why this matters

Social media spreads these fake images faster than ever. Algorithms boost provocative or shocking content, which increases views, clicks, and shares. Meanwhile, legal protection is often weak, and the public doesn’t always understand the harm of deepfake images or videos.

However, the impact of deepfakes can be serious. It can lead to the following:
- Mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or fear
- Damage to reputation or friendships
- Social withdrawal or isolation
- Threats of blackmail or harassment

 

Conclusion

Deepfake pornography is not just a technical problem – it is digital sexual violence. Social media and easy-to-use AI tools make it faster, more widespread, and harder to control.

We all need to be aware of the dangers deepfakes can pose. Therefore, it is very important for people of all ages to learn how to effectively spot deepfakes, report harmful content, and support those affected by non-consensual deepfakes. Social media platforms, governments, and educators also need to step up to protect victims and make online spaces safer for everyone.

Deepfakes show that the digital world can be just as risky as the real one – and understanding these risks is the first step toward staying safe.

 

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