FBI agent explains how easy it is to ID people posting AI porn without consent

FBI探员揭秘：识别未经同意发布AI色情内容者竟如此简单

The earliest arrests under the Take It Down Act (TIDA) suggest that cops don’t have to work too hard to identify people illegally posting and selling nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes of women online. Last week, the FBI arrested two men after visiting porn websites and clicking on hashtags like #AI #Deepfakes or video titles like “AI_tits” or “Ass_AI.” 根据《取缔法案》（Take It Down Act，简称TIDA）进行的首批逮捕行动表明，警方无需费太大周折，就能锁定那些在网上非法发布和兜售未经同意的女性AI色情深度伪造内容的人。上周，FBI探员在访问色情网站并点击诸如 #AI #Deepfakes 或“AI_tits”、“Ass_AI”等标签或视频标题后，逮捕了两名男子。

One suspect accused of violating TIDA was 20-year-old Arturo Hernandez. He allegedly posted 113 albums viewed nearly a million times featuring AI-generated sexualized images and videos of approximately 50 women. Victims included political figures, actresses, and musicians, as well as women who are not public figures, such as female individuals who attended his Texas high school and an Instagram friend. 其中一名被控违反TIDA的嫌疑人是20岁的阿图罗·埃尔南德斯（Arturo Hernandez）。据称，他发布了113个相册，浏览量近百万次，内容包含约50名女性的AI生成色情图片和视频。受害者包括政治人物、女演员和音乐家，也包括非公众人物，例如他德克萨斯州高中的女同学以及一位Instagram好友。

Geo-location data helped cops identify Hernandez as a suspect. In his affidavit, an FBI special agent, Christopher Powell, explained that cops investigating the porn site found a second account re-posting all the content that Hernandez allegedly uploaded. That second account was linked to Hernandez’s PayPal account, the complaint said, and an IP address often used to log in to it was the same IP that Hernandez’s Apple records showed he’d used to log in to his iCloud. 地理位置数据帮助警方锁定了埃尔南德斯。FBI特别探员克里斯托弗·鲍威尔（Christopher Powell）在宣誓书中解释称，调查该色情网站的警员发现，有第二个账户在转发埃尔南德斯上传的所有内容。起诉书显示，该账户与埃尔南德斯的PayPal账户相关联，且该账户常用的登录IP地址，与埃尔南德斯的苹果记录中显示其登录iCloud所使用的IP地址完全一致。

While sexualized deepfakes of celebrities and politicians may be easiest to spot in the wild, cops also sought evidence tying Hernandez to AI content depicting people he knew. It likely simplified their search to find that not only did Hernandez follow the Instagram account of one victim, but cops discovered that Hernandez had also saved in a folder on his own Instagram account the specific image used to create AI porn content viewed more than 36,000 times. 虽然名人与政客的色情深度伪造内容在网上最容易被发现，但警方也搜集了证据，将埃尔南德斯与他熟人的AI色情内容联系起来。调查过程因以下发现而变得简单：埃尔南德斯不仅关注了一名受害者的Instagram账号，警方还发现他在自己的Instagram文件夹中保存了那张被用于制作AI色情内容的原图，而该内容浏览量已超过3.6万次。

Hernandez seemingly tried to distance himself from some of the activity, for example, by registering his Gmail account with the nickname “Ryan” instead of his actual first name. However, cops noted that Hernandez used the “Ryan” nickname elsewhere online, including on his Snapchat account. 埃尔南德斯似乎试图与这些活动撇清关系，例如他注册Gmail账户时使用的是昵称“Ryan”而非真实姓名。然而，警方指出，埃尔南德斯在网络其他地方也使用了“Ryan”这个昵称，包括他的Snapchat账号。

However, the other man arrested, 51-year-old Cornelius “Neil” Shannon, was allegedly less careful, Powell’s affidavit for that arrest showed. Shannon is accused of publishing approximately 360 AI-generated albums that have been viewed more than 2 million times, featuring approximately 90 women, primarily political figures, actresses, and musicians. Powell’s affidavit suggested it was trivially easy to link Shannon to the porn site account because Shannon apparently used his own photo as the profile pic. Cross-referencing Department of Motor Vehicle records and surveillance photos, cops alleged that a man seen posing in a Mets baseball shirt on the account’s profile appeared to be Shannon. 相比之下，另一名被捕者——51岁的科尼利厄斯·“尼尔”·香农（Cornelius “Neil” Shannon）则显得没那么谨慎。鲍威尔针对该案的宣誓书显示，香农被控发布了约360个AI生成的相册，浏览量超过200万次，涉及约90名女性，主要是政治人物、女演员和音乐家。鲍威尔在宣誓书中表示，将香农与该色情网站账户关联起来简直易如反掌，因为香农竟然直接使用了自己的照片作为头像。通过交叉比对机动车管理局（DMV）记录和监控照片，警方认定账户头像中身穿大都会队棒球衫的男子正是香农。

Both Hernandez and Shannon risk up to two years in prison if cops can prove they violated TIDA. 如果警方能证明埃尔南德斯和香农违反了TIDA，两人都将面临最高两年的监禁。

FTC warns 12 nudify toolmakers

FTC向12家“一键脱衣”工具制造商发出警告

Officials appear motivated to track images posted online and enforce the law. In a press release announcing the recent arrests, Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, accused the suspects of using “cutting-edge digital technology to create images that degraded and violated victims across the United States.” And James C. Barnacle, Jr., assistant director in charge of the New York FBI field office, confirmed that his agents would continue investigating similar cases. “This predatory conduct represents a disturbing abuse of technology that inflicts emotional harm on victims, violating their privacy, dignity, and security,” Barnacle said. “The use of this emerging technology to victimize individuals is not innovative—it is criminal and will be pursued with the full force of the law.” 官员们似乎决心追踪网上发布的此类图片并严格执法。在宣布近期逮捕行动的新闻稿中，美国纽约东区联邦检察官约瑟夫·诺塞拉（Joseph Nocella, Jr.）指责嫌疑人利用“尖端数字技术制作图片，贬低并侵害了全美各地的受害者”。负责FBI纽约外勤办公室的助理局长詹姆斯·C·巴纳克（James C. Barnacle, Jr.）证实，他的探员将继续调查类似案件。巴纳克表示：“这种掠夺性行为是对技术的令人不安的滥用，给受害者造成了情感伤害，侵犯了她们的隐私、尊严和安全。利用这种新兴技术去伤害个人绝非创新，而是犯罪，我们将动用法律的一切力量进行追究。”

However, some people charged with TIDA violations may continue using the technology to harm victims, as it remains readily available and relatively cheap to make realistic-looking content sexualizing real people. An Ohio man who was hailed by the US Justice Department as the first arrest under TIDA notably continued making sexualized deepfakes while on pre-trial release, apparently undeterred by even the threat of imminent consequences. 然而，一些被控违反TIDA的人可能会继续利用该技术伤害受害者，因为制作针对真实人物的逼真色情内容依然非常容易且成本低廉。值得注意的是，一名被美国司法部誉为TIDA首个逮捕案例的俄亥俄州男子，在审前释放期间仍继续制作色情深度伪造内容，显然并未被即将到来的法律后果所震慑。

To block people from using AI services to “undress” people and share harmful images online, the Federal Trade Commission announced last week that it sent warning letters to 12 companies offering so-called “nudify” tools. Those companies appear to be violating TIDA, the FTC warned, and need to implement “a process through which victims can request the removal of nonconsensual intimate images appearing on their platforms” within 48 hours or risk “civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation.” 为了阻止人们利用AI服务“脱掉”他人衣物并在网上分享有害图片，联邦贸易委员会（FTC）上周宣布，已向12家提供所谓“一键脱衣”（nudify）工具的公司发送了警告信。FTC警告称，这些公司似乎违反了TIDA，必须在48小时内建立“受害者可要求删除其平台上未经同意的私密图片的流程”，否则将面临“每次违规最高53,088美元的民事罚款”。

It’s unclear if the social media platform X—which has been sued by three girls who claimed its chatbot Grok turned their real photos into AI child sexual abuse materials—received a warning. But X’s Safety account posted last week, notifying users that TIDA victims can report harmful content through the Help Center. They can also report any post by “tapping the three-dot menu (⋯), selecting ‘Private or Non-Consensual Content’ > ‘Report content under the US Take It Down Act’ and then completing the form.” 目前尚不清楚社交媒体平台X是否收到了警告（此前有三名女孩起诉X，称其聊天机器人Grok将她们的真实照片变成了AI儿童性虐待材料）。但X的官方安全账号上周发文通知用户，TIDA受害者可以通过帮助中心举报有害内容。用户也可以通过“点击三点菜单（⋯），选择‘私密或未经同意的内容’（Private or Non-Consensual Content）> ‘根据美国取缔法案举报内容’（Report content under the US Take It Down Act），然后填写表格”来举报任何帖子。

“Our team reviews these reports as fast as possible and well within the Act’s 48-hour timeline,” the X Safety account said. X安全账号表示：“我们的团队会尽快审核这些举报，并确保在法案规定的48小时时限内完成。”

More broadly, the FTC is seemingly stepping up enforcement after a deadline passed this month when all online platforms were required to have such a process in place. A week before the warning letters went out to nudify services, the FTC sent additional letters to operators of major platforms, including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok, and X. Those letters told platforms to be prepared to face penalties for any non-compliance. 从更广泛的层面来看，本月是所有在线平台必须建立此类举报流程的截止日期，此后FTC似乎正在加强执法力度。在向“一键脱衣”服务商发出警告信的一周前，FTC还向包括亚马逊、Alphabet、苹果、Automattic、Bumble、Discord、Match Group、Meta、微软、Pinterest、Reddit、SmugMug、Snapchat、TikTok和X在内的主要平台运营商发送了信函。这些信函告知各平台，若有任何不合规行为，必须准备好面临处罚。