Entertainment

Outrage Over Deepfake Images Of Taylor Swift

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2024

Fans of Taylor Swift and politicians, including the White House, expressed outrage on Friday at AI-generated fake porn images of the megastar that went viral on X and were still available on other platforms.

One image of the US megastar was seen 47 million times on X, the former Twitter, before it was removed Thursday. According to US media, the post was live on the platform for around 17 hours.

“It is alarming,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about the images.

“Sadly we know that lack of enforcement (by the tech platforms)disproportionately impacts women and they also impact girls who are the overwhelming targets of online harassment,” Jean-Pierre added.

Deepfake porn images of celebrities are not new but activists and regulators are worried that easy-to-use tools employing generative artificial intelligence (AI) will create an uncontrollable flood of toxic or harmful content.

Non-celebrities are also victims with increasing reports of young women and teens being harassed on social media with sexually explicit deepfakes that are more and more realistic and easy to manufacture.

The targeting of Swift, the second most listened-to artist in the world on Spotify (narrowly after Canadian rapper Drake), could shine a new light on the phenomenon with her legions of fans outraged at the development.

Last year Swift used her fame to urge her 280 million Instagram followers to vote.

Her fans also pushed US Congress to hold hearings about Ticketmaster when the company bungled the sale of their hero’s concert tickets in late 2022.

“The only ‘silver lining’ about it happening to Taylor Swift is that she likely has enough power to get legislation passed to eliminate it. You people are sick,” wrote influencer Danisha Carter on X.

X is one of the biggest platforms for porn content in the world, analysts say, as its policies on nudity are looser than Meta-owned platforms Facebook or Instagram.

This has been tolerated by Apple and Google, the gatekeepers for online content through the guidelines they set for their app stores on iPhones and Android smartphones.

In a statement, X said that “posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content.”

The Elon Musk-owned platform said that it was “actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them.”

It was also “closely monitoring the situation to ensure that any further violations are immediately addressed, and the content is removed.”

The images however continued to be available and shared on Telegram.

Swift’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

The star has also been the subject of rightwing conspiracy theories and even fake videos where she is falsely shown to be promoting high-priced cookware from France.

– ‘Easier and cheaper’ –

“What’s happened to Taylor Swift is nothing new. For years, women have been targets of deepfakes without their consent,” said Yvette Clarke, a Democratic congresswoman from New York who has backed legislation to fight deepfake porn.

“And with advancements in AI, creating deepfakes is easier & cheaper,” she added.

Tom Kean, a Republican congressman, warned that “AI technology is advancing faster than the necessary guardrails. Whether the victim is Taylor Swift or any young person across our country, we need to establish safeguards to combat this alarming trend.”

Legally mandated controls would need the passing of federal laws, which remains a longshot in a deeply divided US Congress.

US law currently affords tech platforms very broad protection from liability for content posted on their sites and content moderation is voluntary or implicitly imposed by advertisers or the app stores.

Many well-publicized cases of deepfake audio and video have targeted politicians or celebrities, with women by far the biggest targets through graphic, sexually explicit images found easily on the internet.

Software to create the images is widely available on the web.

According to research cited by Wired magazine, 113,000 deepfake videos were uploaded to the most popular porn websites in the first nine months of 2023.

And research in 2019 from a startup found that 96 percent of deepfake videos on the internet were pornographic.

Entertainment

Amy Winehouse’s Father Fues Her Friends For Auctioning Late Star’s Clothes

Published

2 weeks ago

December 9, 2025

Editor

The father of late British singer Amy Winehouse Tuesday defended his UK lawsuit against two of her friends after they sold some of her clothes at auction for around £730,000 ($970,000).

Mitch Winehouse told the High Court in London that Naomi Parry, the star’s former stylist, and her friend, Catriona Gourlay, did not have the right to sell dozens of items in auctions between November 2021 and May 2023.

Lawyer Henry Legge, acting for Winehouse, told the court on Monday, the first day of the trial, that the two women sold 150 objects which had belonged to Winehouse, including dresses which she wore on her last tour in June 2011.

The British singer-songwriter, who enjoyed meteoric global success, died a month later from alcohol poisoning, aged just 27.

Winehouse was a distinctive figure with her beehive hairdo, heavy black eye makeup, multiple tattoos and smoky voice.

She shot to international fame with her Grammy Award-winning 2006 album “Back to Black” which included the track “Rehab”, charting her battle with addiction.

According to court documents, Winehouse believed that any sums collected from the sales organised by Los Angeles-based Julien’s Auctions would be due to him.

The auctioneers had also been told that a third of the proceeds would be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation — a charity set up in the singer’s name working with young people to foster hope and self-reliance.

However, Winehouse’s team accused the women of failing to donate the share of proceeds to the foundation.

– ‘You’re wrong’ –

Ted Loveday, lawyer for Gourlay, said that most of the objects had been given or lent to the two women by the singer, even if there was no proof.

“If a 19-year-old gives a scarf or a pair of earrings to their friends, no one signs a contract,” he told the court on Monday, stressing the singer’s generosity.

Gourlay and Parry met Amy Winehouse in the early 2000s, before she shot to fame. Parry went on to create some of the singer’s most iconic looks — including the green bamboo dress worn on the June 2011 tour which sold at auction for $243, 200.

Beth Grossman, the lawyer for Parry, said the two “women are not thieves and they are not dishonest”.

She accused Winehouse of bringing the lawsuit against the women out of “petty jealousy”, which he strongly denied on Tuesday, saying “you’re wrong”.

Grossman also highlighted the financial differences between the multi-millionaire Mitch Winehouse and the two women who are “living pretty much hand to mouth”.

The hearing is set to last until Friday, with a judgement due at a later date.
(AFP)

Entertainment

FULL LIST: Shallipopi, Belove Olocha, Malumfoodie Win Big At TikTok Awards 2025

Published

2 weeks ago

December 8, 2025

Editor

TikTok has announced the full list of winners for the 2025 TikTok Awards Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigerian stars Shallipopi, Belove Olocha and South Africa’s Malumfoodie taking home some of the biggest honours of the night.

The ceremony held on December 6 in Johannesburg and attracted top creators, performers and industry figures from across the continent. The theme for this year’s event was New Era, New Icons.

The show featured performances from Ciza, Lord Kez, Thuli P, DJ Fif Laa and Thabsie. South African entertainer Bontle Modiselle Moloi hosted the event while Keegan Gordon and Zayaan Noorani handled the red carpet. Influencer Mihlali Ndamase made a surprise appearance to present the Video of the Year award. Olympian Akani Simbine also presented the Sport Creator of the Year category.

Brands including NIVEA, inDrive, Coca-Cola, PEP and Dis-Chem supported the awards.

TikTok’s Head of Content Operations for Sub-Saharan Africa, Boniswa Sidwaba, said the platform is recognising creators who are shaping global conversations.

She said, “Tonight’s ceremony was a gathering of the trailblazers who have redefined what it means to be a creator in Africa. From Sokoto to Nairobi, and Accra to Pretoria, we honoured the creators who turned 60-second clips into cultural movements. We are honoured to celebrate them as they amplify their voices and take their stories from Africa to the world.”

The ceremony will be rebroadcast on December 11 at 20:00 SAST on TikTok LIVE through the @tiktok.africa account.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Creator of the Year
Raja’atu Muhammed Ibrahim @diaryofanortherncook (Nigeria)

Storyteller of the Year
Brian Nwana @briannwana (Nigeria)
He said, “Every single creator is a storyteller. We all tell stories that help drive the local communities, our cities, and our countries, and when we do that we change the perception that the world has about us”.

Video of the Year
Fanuel John Masamaki @zerobrainer0 (Tanzania)
He said, “I am truly grateful to my fans and the love I have received from Tanzanians. Thank you so much . This win was for all of us.”

Rising Star of the Year
@tunero_animations (Kenya)
Runner up: Esther Francis @estherfrancisbackup (Nigeria)

Social Impact Creator of the Year
Dejoke Ogunbiyi @noositiwantiwa_ (Nigeria)
Runner up: Sinethemba Masinga @ufarm_julia (South Africa)

Food Creator of the Year
@malumfoodie (South Africa)
He said, “From my humble beginnings of Haamanskraal, to Soshanguve and to all of South Africa, now we are in Africa!”

Runner up: Abena Amoakoaa Sintim Aboagye @chefabbys (Ghana)

Sports Creator of the Year
John Maingi Mbugua @zozasportscast (Kenya)
He said, “Winning isn’t the finish line, it’s fuel for the next chapter. Every piece of content, every discussion, every moment captured was driven by passion, and receiving this recognition means that passion is resonating far beyond my expectations.”

Runner up: Victor Ademola @ademolavictortv (Nigeria)

Entertainment Creator of the Year
Belove Olocha @beloveolocha (Nigeria)
Runner up: Jabulani Macdonald @jabu_macdonald (South Africa)

Education Creator of the Year
Izzi Boye @izziboye (Nigeria)
Runner up: @michelle_expert (South Africa)

Artiste of the Year
Crown Uzama @theycallmeshallipopipp (Nigeria)
He said, “Thank you, TikTok, for supporting all upcoming artists and giving them a spotlight to shine.”

Entertainment

TikTok Temporarily Restricts Late Night Live Feature In Nigeria

Published

2 weeks ago

December 8, 2025

Editor

TikTok has restricted late-night LIVE access for Nigerian users, as the platform now blocks the feature during peak night hours.

The restriction started on Sunday at midnight when the app quietly shut down all LIVE activities across Nigeria, leaving accounts unable to host or even watch late night streams.

According to an in-app message sent to creators, TikTok wrote, “We’re temporarily limiting LIVE late at night in Nigeria as part of our investigation to ensure our platform remains safe and our community stays protected.”

Many affected users shared that their screens showed a “No Access” label between 11pm and 5am, confirming that the shutdown was nationwide and not a technical glitch.

Reports showed that only creators with at least 1,000 followers received the notice, since they are the only ones allowed to host LIVE sessions on the platform.

Several of them confirmed that all LIVE activities stopped throughout the night, and no one could even view broadcasts from other countries during the restriction.

TikTok users who earn money through LIVE gifting said their balances were not touched, easing fears of sudden financial loss.

By Monday morning, LIVE access returned, but the whole situation triggered long conversations on social media as Nigerians questioned why the company picked late night hours, which usually record the highest traffic for match streams, entertainment shows and interactive trends.

TikTok’s latest move came a few weeks after the platform released fresh safety figures for West Africa at its Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal.

The company revealed that in the second quarter of 2025, it took action against 2,321,813 LIVE sessions and 1,040,356 creators worldwide for breaking LIVE monetisation rules.

It also disclosed that Nigeria alone recorded 49,512 banned LIVE sessions within the same period.

TikTok added that it removed 3,780,426 Nigerian videos between April and June 2025 for violating Community Guidelines, noting that 98.7 percent were deleted before anyone viewed them, while 91.9 percent were taken down within 24 hours.

TikTok LIVE remains a popular feature among young users because it allows real time broadcasting, comments and gifting, unlike pre-recorded videos.

To go LIVE, a creator generally needs at least 1,000 followers, must be above 16 years to stream and above 18 years to earn money.