What began as a project first shared on Reddit, has swept all over the world.
Deepfake, the technology that allows anyone to swap one's face with other's body, uses AI to ease the process of image- and video-manipulation, in a way that has never been seen before.
When the world started realizing the potential of this technology, people has made fake videos of high-profile individuals saying what they aren't supposed to say, swapping numerous celebrities with some porn stars' bodies, and creating revenge porn, and so forth.
In fact, a 2019 report suggested that most deepfakes out there on the web are porn.
Because the technology eases digital manipulation and opens a new commodity for the commercialization of fakery, a woman in Pennsylvania, the U.S., admitted to have created deepfake videos of her daughter's cheerleading rivals.
The mother did that in order to harass and intimidate them.
The deepfake videos were showing her daughter's cheerleading rivals dancing while naked, smoking and drinking.
The AI-powered software made it appear as though that the members of the team were engaging in lewd and rule-breaking behavior.
The videos were then sent to the cheerleaders' coach, the girls' parents and the owners of the cheerleading gym, in an alleged attempt to tarnish the reputations her daughter's cheerleading rivals, and to get the girls kicked off the squad.
On top of that, the woman also sent anonymous messages to the victims for further harassments, including making statements urging the cheerleaders to take their own lives.
The 50-year-old Raffaela Marie Spone did all that while her daughter was unaware of her actions.
The case that was handled by Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub’s office, started in July 2020, when the authorities at the Hilltown Township Police Department were informed by a minor who reported that she was being harassed via text messages.
“During the course of the investigation, additional juvenile victims of harassment came forward. The victims were all found to be part of a cheerleading group based in the Doylestown area," said a spokesperson from Hilltown Township Police Department.
“As part of the investigation, police executed multiple search warrants to determine the origin of the harassment. The investigation led police to an adult female who was affiliated with the cheerleading group.”
The authorities managed to pinpoint Spone by tracing the phone numbers used to send the messages.
According to reports, the phone numbers were fake, but eventually led the authorities to a company that sells deepfakes to marketing teams.
At this time, it unknown whether the woman works for the company and solicited the work, or created the deepfakes herself. But the police said that she allegedly created the manipulated media of at least three members of the Victory Vipers, her daughter’s cheerleading team, by altering photos downloaded from the girls' social media accounts.
Through IP addresses being used, the police was then able to trace Spone at her home.
After a search warrant, further evidence was found on her phone that linked her to the harassing texts and images received by the cheerleaders.
Because of this, Spone is accused of using the technological trickery, and is arrested on 4 March.
Spone is charged with three misdemeanor counts of cyber-harassment of a child and three misdemeanor counts of harassment.