MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google has adjusted its search engine to downrank websites that feature a high volume of content that has been subject to deepfake takedown requests.
The market-leading search engine has been adjusted “to reduce the prevalence of sexually explicit fake content high in results, responding to the explosion in non-consensual unsavory content people have created using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools,” Bloomberg reported last week, after Google published a blog post outlining the changes.
“According to Google, when a user requests the removal of explicit non-consensual fake content featuring them, the company's search system aims to filter all explicit results on similar searches about them,” Bloomberg reported. “This results in an optimization of explicit search results, prioritizing adult content that has not been flagged.”
Google has specified that it intends to be careful in the way it purges explicit content, to make sure that nonconsensual content like deepfakes is filtered, but legal, consensual adult content is not.
Google Product Manager Emma Higham told Bloomberg, “We’ve long had policies to enable people to remove this content if they find it in search, but we’re in the middle of a technology shift. As with every technology shift, we’re also seeing new abuses.”
The change follows earlier press reports that focused on the site MrDeepfakes.com, which benefited from its privileged position at the top of Google Search results.
According to Bloomberg, since the adjustments were implemented in the spring, “U.S.-based search traffic to the top two deepfake pornography websites plummeted.”
Higham noted that the company must be careful about “not taking too blunt an approach and having unintended consequences on access to information.”
“But when we’re seeing high-risk queries and a high risk of fake explicit content showing up non-consensually, we are taking strong action now,” Higham added.