New York Seizes 12 Celebrity Deepfake Websites
404 Media Samantha Cole
New York seized 12 sites that ran celebrity deepfake porn. Officials say it’s the biggest takedown of its kind, and they’re still investigating who made it.
Based on reporting by 404 Media, Samantha Cole — read the original for the full story.
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New York’s district attorney said Monday that his office has seized 12 websites hosting AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery, most of it aimed at celebrities and other public figures. The office says the haul may be the biggest seizure of its kind ever. The people behind the sites are now under investigation.
According to the district attorney, the sites used AI tools to turn about 1,200 people’s photos into “hyper-realistic” sexual images and videos. The targets included politicians, first ladies from multiple countries, actors, athletes, musicians, social justice advocates, social media influencers, and other public-facing figures.
The crackdown lands in a state that already has a law, in place since 2023, that specifically criminalizes sexually explicit deepfakes. District Attorney Alvin Bragg pointed to that law when asked what authority his office was using. He also said the victims are often famous, but not only famous, because deepfakes show up in domestic violence and other intimate abuse cases too.
Bragg said people who find their images posted without consent can contact his office if the website is accessible from Manhattan. He described the office as a “cop on the beat” for survivors, and he urged creators and publishers of this material to understand that “what you are doing is a crime.” He declined to say whether minors were involved, saying the investigation is ongoing.
The seizure follows a run of other enforcement actions. In June, federal agencies took down two domains that were used to publish thousands of forged images and videos of famous women, and in May 2025 the major deepfake forum MrDeepfakes.com shut down after reporting by CBC, Der Spiegel, and Bellingcat. Earlier this month, the first man convicted under the Take It Down Act was sentenced to 15 years in prison after investigators found more than 3,000 real and AI-generated abuse images on his devices.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is one of those rare moments when law enforcement is chasing the right problem instead of the shiny version of it. Deepfake abuse is not “content moderation” with a fancier logo; it’s harassment with a machine in the loop. The bigger story is how long platforms let this stuff scale before anyone pretended to care.
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