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This is a responsibility for government, academia, and industry alike.
Indonesia now faces a critical choice: either allow this dangerous trend to continue, or commit to building a digital governance framework rooted in human rights and social justice.
The pervasive nature of online content means that these images can resurface repeatedly, prolonging the psychological distress indefinitely.
Deepfakes as Tools of Online Harassment and Cyberbullying
Deepfake technology significantly amplifies existing forms of online harassment and cyberbullying. A broader cultural shift is needed, one that recognizes that AI-enabled attacks on identity are an assault on the very principles of human rights and social justice.
Driven by sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), these tools enable advanced Image and Video Manipulation, creating incredibly convincing, yet entirely fake, content.
For the LGBTQ+ Community, which often faces unique vulnerabilities and discrimination, the proliferation of gay deepfakes presents a growing concern, threatening personal safety, privacy, and psychological well-being.
This leaves LGBTQIA+ people particularly vulnerable in online spaces.
Platforms: More Than Just Algorithms, A Question of Responsibility
Digital platforms—Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and others—play a crucial role in controlling the spread of deep fake content. Tracing the origin of a deepfake and identifying the individual responsible can be technically challenging, requiring advanced forensic skills that law enforcement agencies may not always possess.
The violation of privacy and autonomy can lead to significant trauma, as individuals grapple with the digital replication and public display of their likeness in compromising situations. Particularly concerning are deepfakes involving non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), such as gay porn deepfakes, which pose unprecedented challenges to existing laws and demand a swift evolution of legal frameworks to protect individuals’ digital rights.
The Complex and Lagging Legal Ramifications
Deepfakes, especially those creating non-consensual intimate imagery, present a uniquely complex legal quagmire.
Equipping the public with the skills to recognize authentic content versus manipulation,[9] must become a national priority, embedded in both education and public awareness efforts.
Imagine a world where your image, your identity, and even your most intimate moments can be fabricated and distributed without your knowledge or consent.
The same platforms that can be used to advocate for rights and visibility can also be hijacked by bad actors seeking to spread hate. Laws typically require a false statement of fact, and the synthetic nature of deepfakes can blur this line, sometimes making it seem like a caricature rather than a direct factual assertion, though the intent to harm is clear.
Authorities are typically quick to investigate allegations of religious blasphemy, but slow, if not outright reluctant, to address discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. "When our campaign was informed of this stunt, our digital team relentlessly reported the Facebook page to Meta and the website to GoDaddy.com as a violation of Michigan campaign law until they were both taken down."
A third candidate, Republican Andrew Wendt, a former Saginaw city councilman, said he had spoken to Tunney about the fake videos and labeled them "childish."
"We're better people than that," Wendt said.
The other GOP candidate, Chadwick Twillman of Saginaw, said he had no idea about the fake videos of Tunney when asked by The Detroit News.
These rights encompass the right to privacy, the right to one’s image, and the right to freedom from digital harassment and exploitation.
The Weight of Digital Harm
The harm inflicted by deepfakes is real and often irreversible. Twillman's campaign website describes him as a truck driver, financial executive and journalist.
Initially, Twillman said people have "the freedom to do any type of freedom of speech that we want to do." When the state law regulating deepfakes in campaigns was mentioned, Twillman said it sounded like it provided some protection to candidates.
Twillman added that he would never participate in the production of fake videos, like the ones created against Tunney.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
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It requires not only technological advancement and stringent policy changes but also a unified commitment to empathy and education.This isn’t a dystopian fantasy; it’s the stark reality posed by Gay Deepfakes – a disturbing manifestation of Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII). Tsernoglou said she was almost certain the videos aimed at Tunney violated her policy, which mandated disclaimers on such material.
"None of the AI laws have been tested yet, so I expect we will see a lot of people pushing the boundaries this year," said Tsernoglou of the coming 2026 election.
Misleading voters
The rise of and ease of access to artificial intelligence, along with the reach of social media, allow candidates to make and spread false images and videos that could mislead voters about their opponents' stances and personal histories.
In 2023, Robert Weissman, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen, said deepfakes threatened "to make it impossible for voters to distinguish authentic media from fake, A.I.-generated content, undermining the prospect of a functioning democracy."
The "Trannys for Tunney" Facebook page falsely claimed Tunney was gay and featured what appeared to be an artificial intelligence-generated image of people standing in front of a logo of the transgender pride flag.
"We're gay, we're conservative, and we're all in for Jason Tunney in Michigan's 35th Senate District," text that accompanied the image said.
The website included a fake image of a person named "Tomas E." of Bay City, who was supposedly endorsing Tunney.
"I'm a gay conservative business owner," Tomas E.
was quoted as saying. Matthew Bierlein, R-Vassar, who worked on the deepfakes package with Tsernoglou, said it seemed to him that the fake Tunney videos violated the law or at least the intention of what legislators were trying to prevent.
Bierlein said he wasn't certain because there haven't been many cases so far in Michigan. But he acknowledged that, as a candidate, the prospect of fake videos being on the internet was a scary one.
"You could easily portray any politician doing something that they absolutely did not do," Bierlein said.
'Better people than that'
In order to prove someone has broken the deepfake law, police officers or investigators would likely have to be able to determine who was behind the "Trannys for Tunney" videos, Bierlein noted.
It wasn't immediately clear who set up the website or Facebook page.
The website domain name was registered on Saturday as the Facebook page began actively posting about Tunney.
Traditional legal frameworks, often conceived in an era before advanced AI, struggle to adequately address the specific harms inflicted by synthetic media.