--- title: "Twitter’s Idiotic Response to AI Porn: Block All Searches for “Taylor Swift”" description: "To curb the spread of nonconsensual AI deepfake porn of Taylor Swift, Twitter-formerly-X decided to block all searches for the star's name." date: "2024-01-29" modified: "2024-01-29" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/twitter-ai-taylor-swift" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "deepfakes" - "taylor swift" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Twitter’s Idiotic Response to AI Porn: Block All Searches for “Taylor Swift” ![To curb the spread of nonconsensual AI deepfake porn of Taylor Swift, Twitter-formerly-X decided to block all searches for the star's name.]() *\Image: Patrick Smith via Getty / Futurism\* ## Whack-a-Mole Leave it to X-formerly-Twitter to find the dumbest possible solution to a serious problem. Last week, outrage rightfully broke out across the web when [horrific AI-generated pornography]() of the singer and songwriter Taylor Swift went viral on the platform — the latest content moderation scandal to hit the beleaguered social media site following owner Elon Musk's [many]() [slashes]() to X's once-robust trust and safety workforce. The incident has been so alarming that it's [prompted lawmakers in Washington](), the White House included, to weigh in on the dangers of AI deepfakes and nonconsensual AI porn. Meanwhile, what measures has Elon Musk's X, the platform where these nonconsensual images were able to go viral, taken to combat the problem? It's simply blocked searches for "Taylor Swift" across the board. Search her name, and all you get is a "something went wrong" error code. Which is... well, one way to do it. ## Zero Tolerance In a [statement to *The* *BBC*](), X head of business operations Joe Benarroch insisted that the Swift erasure was temporary, adding that X has a "zero-tolerance policy" for deepfake porn. He also urged that X's teams are working to remove the images and "take action" against anyone who posted them. Considering again that X's moderation staff has been in shambles for well over a year now, this may have been X's only feasible means of stalling the spread of the photos. Still, that doesn't mean that this was a *good* solution — if you can even call it that — or a step that any healthy social platform would have to take. It's like if someone went to the hospital for what should have been a routine procedure to curb an infection on their arm, but because the hospital happened to fire anyone with the right expertise, it instead had to cut off their whole limb. Did it technically work? Sure, maybe, at least for now. But it's not a move that the hospital should have had to make to begin with. ## Rising Tide It's worth noting that the Swift incident comes at a pressing moment for X, as broader concern over its [lack of content moderation]() continues to mount. Hate speech has [noticeably risen]() on the website [since Musk's 2022 takeover](), and later this week, X CEO Linda Yaccarino is [scheduled]() to face questions from lawmakers about the platform's [troubling inability]() to curb the spread of [child sexual abuse material](). And though X, [as *Bloomberg* reported this weekend](), [claims]() to be planning a "trust and safety center of excellence" in Austin, it hasn't given any sort of timeline for the initiative. In the meantime, we can likely expect more X moderation failures to follow — and as a result, more people, [public and not](), are likely to get hurt. **More on Swift and X:** [*Will There Be Any Consequences For All This Disgusting AI Taylor Swift Porn?*]() ## 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]()