Attempts to search for “Taylor Swift” on the X, which was formerly known as Twitter, currently result in an automated error message being displayed to users.
Head of business operations at X, Joe Benarroch, told the Wall Street Journal that the site “prioritises safety on this issue” and that the action was a “temporary one” that had been taken “with an abundance of caution.”
The duration of the search block’s implementation is unknown.
X new ‘zero tolerance’ policy:
Swift’s fans swiftly organised to flood the platform with authentic photos of the singer, as well as pushed the Elon Musk-owned platform to take more aggressive action against the accounts that were allegedly disseminating the lewd images. The leaked images of Swift first surfaced online last week.
X declared in a statement made public on Friday that it had a “zero-tolerance policy” regarding the posting of such content and that doing so was “strictly prohibited.”
The statement read, “Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them,” though it did not specifically mention Swift.
“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.”
Elon Musk facing backlash:
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has come under fire since taking over the website for reducing the number of content moderation teams on the platform and advocating for more posts to be left up because he believes in “absolute free speech.”
Artificial intelligence advancements have made the process of producing digitally altered and phoney images more accessible and easy.
Experts in the field have cautioned about the possible harm that AI-generated deepfakes could cause and the misinformation that they could propagate, especially in this year of important elections in several nations, including the US and the UK.
Before the next general election, the government hopes to have “robust mechanisms” in place to combat such content, according to Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan’s statement from late last year.
The government, she said, was “concerned” about the possible effects of AI being used to disseminate false information and produce deepfakes, and the matter was being handled “very seriously.”
