Being Too British About Porn Is Driving Rise In Deepfake Content Creation

New research from digital identity security company, ID Crypt Global, suggests that British embarrassment over pornography consumption could be fuelling the rise in celebrity deepfakes, as just 6% admitted to having watched deepfake pornography, despite an alarming increase in the number of such videos being produced.

Deepfake video content creation is increasing rapidly, with figures showing that there has been a 552% increase in the number of deepfake videos appearing online in just two years.

While the technology has been utilised for everything from Taylor Swift appearing to advertise Le Creuset kitchenware to a falsified Barack Obama addressing the American people with an unusual message, it’s estimated that a staggering 96% of deepfake videos are pornographic in nature, often with a celebrity focus.

In fact, research by Channel 4 News puts the estimated number of celebrities depicted in deepfake porn at 4,000.

"It’s not just celebrities that are being impacted, deepfake porn is targeting everyday members of the public as well...

As of 2023, deepfake porn videos are believed to have amassed 194 million views, with 100% of the celebrities depicted within them being female.

Celebrity sex tapes are nothing new and a survey of the UK public, commissioned by ID Crypt, found that 27% of us have watched a celebrity sex tape before. However, this figure may be higher, as the same survey by ID Crypt found that just 35% of us admit to watching porn, whilst previous research carried out by Ofcom puts this figure at half of all UK.

Traditionally such videos were either leaked or released by the celebrity themselves, however, the rise of deepfake technology means that we can now watch our favourite celebrities engage in sexual activities, without them even stepping foot in the bedroom.

Despite this astonishing rise in celeb deepfake porn, the company found that only 6% of UK adults admit to having watched such a video.

Furthermore, only 6% of adults say they would actively search for deepfake porn depicting their celebrity crush, and just 2% say they would actively share any such video with someone else.

However, the alarming rise in deepfake celebrity porn suggests that demand for such content is far higher than we might be willing to admit, so is our embarrassment over porn part of the problem?

CEO and Founder of ID Crypt Global, Lauren Wilson-Smith, commented:
“As a nation, we’ve always been a little sheepish about sex, pornography included, and while we’ve certainly grown more liberal in recent years, it’s fair to say that we’re still rather coy about consuming porn.

"It’s an understandably sensitive area and it's no surprise that we might want to keep our viewing habits private, however, in doing so we’re helping to play down what has become a very real problem.

"While curiosity may spur many to initially seek out celebrity deepfake porn, the viewing figures suggest that the demand for such content goes far beyond a quick peak and this is leading to a rapid increase in deepfake porn content creation.

"It’s not just celebrities that are being impacted, deepfake porn is targeting everyday members of the public as well and it’s a disgusting breach of privacy that we simply can’t stand for.

"We simply can’t be too British about deepfake porn as it’s an issue that needs to be tackled head on to ensure it’s eradicated.”

Full survey results and complimentary data can be viewed online, here.