In this photo illustration, the Etsy logo is displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The explicit content isn't hidden, either. Fox News Digital found that a simple search of "ai nude" or "deepfake porn" on Etsy each yielded 1,000+ results, while a search for "porn" turned back zero results. Even without a narrowed search, some explicit-AI generated items appeared in the "You may also like" algorithm while searching for other unrelated items.
While not all the results showed pornographic content, many of the nude images are of entirely fabricated women created by AI. One shop even sells an e-book guide on how to create X-rated AI content.
Ninety-five photos of Margot Robbie were also being sold for $10.95 by a shop with the description "Margot Robbie Nude Photorealistic AI Celebrity Nude Art - | NSFW Ai Girl | AI Girl | Celebrity Nude" as of Thursday.
Several of the display photos were actual images of the "Wolf of Wall Street" actress, while others were fully nude AI-generated photos of her. One of the AI-generated photos of Margot Robbie depicted the actress in a sexual act. Robbie's team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
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Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 4, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
"It's very accessible for individuals to take really any image or video or audio and run it through a software program to create a deepfake," Klinkner told Fox News Digital.
He added that photos of celebrities are run through AI software "which learns how to map the person's face, or even videos, and then create these obscene, pornographic images."
"So you're seeing these images sold on Etsy online, and a relatively simple search can, unfortunately, lead to a lot of results of individuals selling these images," Klinkner said. "And again, because AI is relatively affordably accessible these days, there's not a whole lot stopping individuals from making these images and even trying to sell them."
Klinkner added that when these cases are brought forth, judges are often unfamiliar with deepfakes and are hesitant to apply old laws to a fairly modern problem.
"They can't really wrap their heads around a computer taking an image and creating images that look like you that really aren't you," he said.
Users who create such images are hard to track down, too, as many use aliases and fake photos on their profiles. Klinkner said it creates "a Whack-A-Mole situation" where if one account gets taken down, a new account can just be made.
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"Barbie" star Margot Robbie arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on February 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Last month, singer Taylor Swift made headlines when deepfake images of her made their rounds on social media. A few days later, Congress introduced legislation to crack down on the creation of such images that appear identical to actual celebrities.
The No AI FRAUD Act, introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., last month, would issue penalties for users who create generative AI images to harm individuals, whether they are public figures or not.
Only a few states have laws on the books penalizing nonconsensual deepfake porn: Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia. In California and Illinois, victims can sue perpetrators who create explicit images in their likeness.
Andrew W. Torrance, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas Law School, told Fox News Digital in an interview that while there is protection under the First Amendment for creating images or videos of others, particularly public figures, there are limitations. Parody is protected, but if the depiction is too realistic, it may infringe upon rights such as privacy or the right of publicity, especially for celebrities, or amount to libel or fraud.
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"A celebrity such as Margot Robbie, in California . . . and some other states, has special rights to her public image, because she's a celebrity," Torrance told Fox News Digital. "And when you meddle with that public image, when you start to make her look the way that she doesn't want to look or sound, or espouse opinions that she doesn't actually have, you can start to infringe on this right of publicity, and she might have a right to sue to prevent you from doing that and to take it down."
"I think this is why things are coming to a head — because we've reached a point where it truly is difficult to tell between the generated and the real, and the amount of damage that is possible by fooling a large number of people is tremendous," he said.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
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