Attorney General Bird Joins Bipartisan Coalition Urging Tech Companies to Stop the Spread of Deepfakes

DES MOINES –Attorney General Brenna Bird recently warned parents against the dangers of deepfakes being used for bullying or harassment. Today, she joined a bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general in calling on major search engines and payment platforms to take stronger action against the growing spread of fake, computer-generated nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII), commonly known as “deepfake porn.”  

“Search engines and payment platforms have a responsibility to enforce their policies and stop the spread of illegal deepfakes,” said Attorney General Bird. “They must take this obligation seriously. Deepfake porn is evil and harmful, and I am committed to protecting Iowans and actively fighting the spread of this crime.” 

Although deepfake porn overwhelmingly targets women and girls, men and boys have been victimized as well. A recent report found that 98% of all deepfake videos online are pornographic.  

The coalition points to existing industry practices that can be deployed to address deepfake porn. For example, search engines already limit access to harmful content such as searches for “how to build a bomb” and “how to kill yourself.” The attorneys general urged these companies to adopt similar measures for searches such as “how to make deepfake pornography,” “undress apps,” “nudify apps,” or “deepfake porn.” The coalition also urged payment platforms to deny sellers the ability to use their services when they learn of connections to deepfake porn tools or content and to remove those sellers from their network.  

Attorney General Bird joined the Vermont-led letter, which was co-sponsored by the attorneys general of Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah. It was also joined by the attorneys general of Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

Read the coalition’s letters here and here. 

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For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov