Article by Lorraine Diputado Graphics by Zyrel Vilalobos
February 23, 2022
Deep fake content can be used for silly entertainment, but the consequences can be extreme when the videos look too real and affect the faces involved. Twitch streamer Blaire, also known as QTCinderella, with her fellow female friend streamers, namely, Pokimane and Maya Higa has been victimized by this.
How did this all unfold?
Atrioc, a Twitch streamer, was live last January 26, 2023, when he misclicked on one of his tabs and revealed a website containing explicit deep fake content, including his female streamer (now formerly) friends. The affected streamers expressed their disappointment a few days later on Twitter. Maya Higa responds with a tweet about how she has been building her career around her non-profit animal sanctuary, and all her hard work goes away with that one deep fake image of her spreading around the internet. She also wishes that people on the internet would not debate whether or not this should be seen as a big deal because, at the end of the day, her face got used for explicit content without her consent.
Despite this terrible situation, some male public figures chose to make light and poke fun at the situation. While watching QTCinderella’s tearful livestream addressing the issue, Youtuber/Social Media personality Ethan Klein was laughing while a sound byte was playing over the stream. Though he was not laughing at her, it was still inappropriate to act that way while reacting to the whole situation.
Atrioc went live alongside his wife to explain his side. The streamer says that he looked at the deep fake website from an ad and out of curiosity, paid to watch the videos. He issued an apology through a tweet stating how apologetic he is for the pain he has caused Maya and Pokimane. Atrioc is working on covering the legal fees for the women affected and will be stepping away from streaming and working on his brand.
The said deep fake website is now down and inaccessible, but the damages done are irreversible, and the female streamers affected will always be associated with what happened.
Comentarios