OPINIONS Tuesday, February 21 2023 Thursday, Monday, Monday, October October April 3,2, 5, 2017 2017 2017
DEEPFAKES POSE A REAL THREAT Over the past few years, there has been a massive increase in deepfake pornography, a new form of sexual harassment where the perpetrator is anonymous.
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Deepfakes are problematic in general, as they offer dangerous opportunities to spread disinformation. Many deepfake videos have been created that manipulate politicians or public figures to say different things. Deepfake porn is an especially invasive and evil form of disinformation. Advanced software, like the Windows program “FakeApp,” allows any user to upload a photo set of a face onto a pornographic video. As of 2021, it was estimated that between 90 and 95 percent of all deepfake videos are nonconsensual porn, and 90 percent feature women. While deepfake videos can vastly vary in quality, the psychological effect on its victims is the same. In addition to stealing and manipulating people’s identities, deepfake porn can affect employment,
harm interpersonal and romantic relationships, cause body dysmorphia in victims, and subject people to stalking or harassment. The porn industry has already immensely profited from the exploitation and abuse of women. For example, in June of 2021, 34 women sued PornHub for having profited from “nonconsensual content involving rape, child sexual abuse, and human trafficking.” Deepfakes continue to be uploaded to porn sites each month. Deepfakes inherently ignore consent, allowing for people to create and distribute manipulated and compromising images of people anonymously. Some defenders of deepfake imaging argue that it is part of the “natural progression of technology” and that people can do what they’d like with pictures of others.
However, if made realistic enough, deepfakes threaten to influence others’ perceptions of their subjects. Regardless of the quality of the deepfake, they strip individuals of the agency to determine how they are presented. Additionally, deepfakes jeopardize movements to empower sex workers and protect their sexual agency and consent. Another harmful dimension of deepfakes is their ability to sexualize anyone. Deepfake technology has been used as a tool to sexually abuse children by imposing their faces on explicit imagery and video, a disgusting and illegal act that endangers children. Fortunately, there have been efforts to create software to detect deepfakes. Unfortunately, the very method a program uses to detect a deepfake can be
used to “train” new deepfake creation algorithms. Recently, researchers from Watson College here at Binghamton University worked with Intel Corp. to develop an online tool called “FakeCatcher,” which can detect if videos have used deepfake editing by analyzing differences in skin color caused by heartbeats — the technology is 90 percent accurate. Hopefully, these technologies can be used by pornography websites to ensure that they are not posting deepfake videos. So, what protections do people have against being taken advantage of by deepfake technology? In the United States, the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (“SHIELD Act”) amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021
provides privacy protections against deepfake pornography and its pernicious effects on employment and educational opportunity, ad well as the harassment it often causes. Additionally, New York State Senate Bill S5959D provides a private right of action for those victim to “unlawful dissemination or publication of a sexually explicit depiction of an individual.” Forty-six U.S. states also ban revenge porn, though only Virginia and California’s bans specifically enumerate deepfaked media. While some may argue that regulating deepfakes violates First Amendment free speech rights, the amendment states that the free speech guarantee is not extended to “the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous and insulting words or ‘fighting’ words.” Other legal claims that victims of
deepfake pornography may be able to pursue are defamation, violation of privacy, appropriation of personality or copyright infringement. Additionally, child pornography is criminalized on a federal level. However, the difficulty of bringing a deepfake case to court is that the perpetrator is usually anonymous. While awareness and legal protections surrounding deepfake pornography are increasing, it is important that research continues to target those perpetrating these heinous crimes. Additionally, we should begin to break down the broad stigma surrounding pornography, so that support can be given to those who are victims of deepfake technology. Technology is only going to advance, so it is up to the law to advance with it.
Views expressed in the opinion pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial, above. The Editorial Board is composed of the Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Opinions Editor, Sports Editor and Arts & Culture Editor.
Werewolf characters are queer coded Werewolf story plots are allegorical to queer identity journeys. Emily Vega Opinions Columnist
Since the dawn of the term “monstrosity,” queerness has been interwoven with the concept of disruptive, hybrid identities — identities par for the course in paranormal stories. There is a tight connection visible through the portrayal of the werewolf, a vilified creature in a futile fight with their own physical reality, which will often ostracize them from “normal” society. Although it may not be as blatant to those outside the LGBTQ+ community, werewolves have served as inspiration for adaptive and radical fanworks within queer representation due to the similarities in experience. In essence, queerness and lycanthropy mirror one another on three main fronts — the struggle with physical reality, the repudiation from greater society and the shame associated with the “monstrosity” ascribed by societal norms. In recent years, we have seen more of an assimilation culture occur in queer media whereby queer stories are injected into traditionally heteronormative plots. Rules like the Hays Code, which prohibited the portrayal of queerness in films and shows between the 1930s and 1950s, made clearly queer stories almost impossible to produce
at all. But, that didn’t mean none existed, as people began turning to queer-coding, the use of queer call signs, like flamboyancy or crossdressing, to subtextually depict a character as part the LGBTQ+ community. Queer-coding stemmed from Hollywoods’ selfimposed guidelines and led to certain archetypes becoming synonymous with queer people. Thus, the rise of allegorical queerness began to define generations of queer media, in which the werewolf began symbolizing homosexuality in queer circles. The physical aspect of the werewolf is akin to several queer identities. Most explicitly homosexual people have an identity that, like the werewolf, allows them to assimilate into general culture most of the time, but once the “transformation” happens, they are unveiled and no longer able to hide this core aspect of their personality. Further, the physicality of the werewolf’s transformation has deeply troubling yet painfully accurate parallels to queer puberty, where one’s own body becomes an “other” that the self must reckon with. Plus, much like the unassuming queer person, werewolves are forcibly sent on a journey of religious morality due to their inherent “monsterhood.” Obviously, the connection between
queerness and monstrosity stems from the homophobic perspective of queerness being negative and unnatural, but this does not erase the fact that homophobia is a very tangible part of being queer, both externally and internally. Both identities exemplify alienation — the terrifying occurrence of looking up at the shepherd and around at the flock, yet looking down and realizing that you are wearing sheep’s clothes. Understanding one’s unique yet inextricable identity and coming to terms with the queerness — that is to say oddness — of one’s self-expression, despite potential negative retaliation from dominant culture, is the unifying battle. Thus, humanizing the paranormal creatures that mirror queer identity is essential to the healing and support of queer audiences. As Jaquelin Elliott describes it, “Ever the outcast, werewolves destabilize gender and eschew sexual binaries. Lycanthropic monstrosity is rooted in their disruption of the moral and social fabric of a normative society.” Thus, being a werewolf doesn’t bode well for a seamless assimilation into non-monster society, similar to the difficulties of being queer in a heteronormative society. For ages, there have been parallels drawn between the secrets kept as a werewolf and the secrets kept as a queer person, where
both groups must only reveal their identities in trusted circles for fear of capture and retribution. Both identities present a very real threat of excommunication and to personal safety. Revealing this secret to the wrong person may lead to the loss of social circles, public safety or job positions, as was the case with Remus Lupin, Harry Potter’s lycanthropic professor. Lupin needed to keep his identity a secret because “other parents weren’t likely to want their children exposed to [him],” and, once the wrong person found out about his condition, he was removed from his teaching position as a result of werewolf prejudice. Sound familiar? This exact scenario — a systematic and bias-led attempt by the majority class to eliminate all influences of queerness within society — has happened to queer people across the world for decades. Additionally, a more explicit parallel lies in the “coming out” trope within werewolf media, which is clearly akin to the coming out of a queer person. An example of this is in the 1986 movie “Teen Wolf,” in which the main character, Scott, reveals his lycanthropy to his best friend, Stiles: “Scott: Stiles, I got something to tell you. It’s kind of hard, but … // Stiles: Look, are you gonna tell me you’re a fag because if you’re gonna tell me that you’re a fag, I don’t think I can handle it. // Scott: I’m
not a fag. I’m … a werewolf.” Although this rendition obviously approaches the queer parallels of lycanthropy with far less tact than is preferred, it is still a great example of how similar these experiences can be and why so many werewolf characters are called queer-coded by audiences who are yearning for blatant representation. Although not the goal of the original tale, werewolves are clearly emblematic of queerness in a way that demands a certain type of care and thoughtfulness when crafting their stories. For example, “Lupin’s condition of lycanthropy was a metaphor for those illnesses that carry a stigma, like HIV and AIDS,” as confirmed by J.K. Rowling. However, the fans’ demands for a queer love story between him and his friend, Sirius Black, were snuffed out in favor of a late-stage romance with a woman — whose queerness has also been extensively argued in the fandom — shortly before both of their deaths. Acknowledgment of the inherent queerness of werewolves is necessary when exploiting their stories for the queer-synonymous drama of alienation, internalized hatred, community and rebirth. However, just the acknowledgement of this parallel does little good for the healing of queer traumas as it relates to the issues
mentioned previously. As Michael Elias put it, “[Queer people] have long been saying ‘we belong.’ We are not like ‘others.’ We are not the slurs that are thrown at us. We are not monsters,” as a way to reconcile feelings of ostracism. The desire to reassure oneself after being called a monster is natural, especially in a paradoxical system where the world that has rejected minorities also remains the only world that they can be a part of. However, the move to reject the “monstrous” parts of oneself is more detrimental than helpful in the long run. “As long as monsters exist, the system that has created them and their oppressors will exist,” and thus the answer is not to renounce one’s monstrosity but to embrace it as a strength. In an ideal world, the distinction between “monsters” and “normal people” would not exist. However, in the world we live in, the role of the queer monster can provide a sense of identity and understanding, as well as a way for queer communities to break free from heteronormative expectations of “good guys” and instead redefine one’s own unique and queer goodness. Emily Vega is a junior majoring in English.