Angel Aquino decries being a victim of AI-generated deepfake porn: 'It was dehumanizing'
Actress Angel Aquino decried being a victim of AI-generated deepfake porn, even as she called on senators to craft stronger laws to curb such a crime.
"Yung mukha natin na nasa isang porn video, I don't know how you'd feel, but it's really nakakabastos,” Aquino said during the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality hearing on Thursday, Sept. 4. The day's session focused on dealing with sexual abuse and exploitation amid the rise of deepfakes and other harmful AI-generated content.
“It was dehumanizing. It was [a] digital assault, one that leaves no bruises on the skin, but strips away one's dignity in the most obscene manner imaginable,” she added.
The 52-year-old actress noted that a friend had told her she was seen in a porn video.
“When I learned of my deepfake, my reaction was both internal and physical," she said. "As in, para akong nasusuka. I felt ill, nauseated, confused, and stunned in the beginning."
"Then, it was disgust and anger for being violated as a person in a revolting and humiliating way," she added.
Aquino said that while she understands that one of the trade-offs of being a celebrity is "being public property," it must only be "to a certain extent."
"Putting ourselves out there doesn't give people consent to demean us, defame us, harass, or take us apart, or do whatever they want to do with us," she said.
Aquino urged senators to strengthen the country's cybercrime laws, especially since criminals act fast in the era of AI.
"So, this is the new frontier of violence against women," she said. "Shouldn't we be ten or more steps ahead?"
“These deepfake photos and videos hurt and violate real people," she continued. "I urge you all to take action. Punish the perpetrators, those who share and repost, the websites that host it, the platforms that turn a blind eye while it spreads."
"Those who make money out of this, accountability must be total because the damage multiplies with every click, every share, every view," she added.
In the same hearing, content creator Queen Hera lamented how her daughter also fell victim to deepfake porn.
Hera, who typically posts photos and videos of her and her daughter, recalled getting an Instagram DM saying her daughter had been seen on the dark web.
"I saw her picture myself. It was edited, but her face was edited on a man's private part," she said, adding it's "not a trivial matter or a harmless prank" but a "grave violation of dignity, privacy, and human rights."
Hera noted that as a mother, it's been "heartbreaking and deeply painful to witness how this exploitation has affected her [daughter's] well-being, reputation, and safety."
"No parents want to see their child in that situation," she said.
Like Aquino, Hera called on senators to take action.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the committee's chairperson, agreed with them, saying their experiences "will be taken into account" in filing a bill that seeks to strengthen the Expanded Safe Spaces Act.
"Legislation is needed to truly address the threats posed by artificial intelligence against women and youth," Hontiveros said.
Deepfake is a photo or a video where someone's face or body has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that wasn't actually done or said.
Hontiveros, citing a report, said 95% of deepfakes involve pornography, with 90% of the victims being women and children. She stressed that even young boys are also victimized by deepfakes.
