--- title: "Grotesque Engagement Farmers Are Using AI to Manipulate Real Arrest Footage So That Cops Grope Women" description: "TikTok users are manipulating real arrest footage to show police officers kissing and groping women being taken into custody, a report found." date: "2026-10-21" modified: "2026-10-21" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/tiktok-ai-deepfakes-cops-groping-women" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "deepfakes" - "nonconsensual deepfakes" - "tiktok" --- # Grotesque Engagement Farmers Are Using AI to Manipulate Real Arrest Footage So That Cops Grope Women ![Lights on a police car are shown in darkness.]() *Shutterstock / Daniel Tadevosyan* Engagement farmers on TikTok are using AI to manipulate real arrest footage to show police officers kissing and groping arrestees being taken into custody. The deepfakes, which were discovered by Copyleaks, are grotesque. The AI-manipulated videos are based on actual footage of arrests — which appear to have originally been filmed for reality TV shows like TLC's "*D.U.I.*" — but have been altered to depict law enforcement officers kissing and sexually touching real women, as well as a few real men, who were pulled over. The arrestees are often shown wearing handcuffs and being held near, in, or against police cruisers as the fake sexual activity occurs. These abusive deepfakes are then spliced in front of longer videos of the arrest, a tactic which suggests that the deepfakes were made to get scrolling users hooked so they watch the arrest videos through to the end. “This is a disturbing example of how AI tools are being used to create deepfake versions of real content to drive attention and engagement on social media," Copyleaks cofounder and CEO Alon Yamin said in a statement. "It's important to remember that these videos feature real people — both police officers and citizens — who are being depicted doing things that never happened." "That’s concerning," added Yamin, "for everyone featured and involved.” In some of the videos, the people being kissed and groped are pictured smiling, implying that they're willing participants in the sexual advances of police officers who are actively arresting them. Some of the manipulated videos note the use of AI-generated content, and are additionally outfitted with a disclaimer claiming that the clips are for "entertainment use only with no harmful implication." That disclaimer, though, rings extraordinarily hollow: sexualized deepfakes, created to manipulate media of real people without their consent, are implicitly harmful. After we reached out, TikTok removed examples of the content that we specifically flagged, and pointed us to [platform guidelines]() regarding clear labeling of realistic AI content. **More on deepfakes:** *[The Proliferation of Deepfakes Is Profoundly Changing the Way Teenagers Use the Internet]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()