Atrioc inadvertently showed fans he had the deepfake site open on his browser during a stream on Monday. Subsequently, screenshots of the browser window made rounds online, exposing popular female Twitch streamers featured on the site. QTCinderella, one of the victims, commented on the episode in a live Twitch stream. “This is what it looks like to feel violated, this is what it looks like to feel taken advantage of. This is what it looks like to see yourself naked against your will being spread all over the internet,” she said.
Atrioc Issues Apology; to Step Away from Content Creation
In light of the controversy, Atrioc posted a video apology on Monday, Jan. 30, describing his actions as the result of a “morbid curiosity” and not a “pattern of behaviour.” He tweeted a written apology on Feb. 1, saying he would be stepping away from content creation to focus on removing similar content from the web. “In the short term, through the efforts of QT and Ryan Morrison’s law firm the website in question has already been taken down,” Atrioc tweeted. “I have spoken with Morrison and am working to cover the financial cost of the takedown as well as all legal fees for all women affected to use his services for removing their unwanted content from the web. Additionally, I am engaging more law firms to continue to remove this content from other areas of the internet such as Reddit,” he added.
“I Feel Like the Total Piece of Shit I am,” Says Deepfake Website Creator
Shortly after Atrioc’s video apology, the deepfake porn creator removed the content from their site, replacing it with an apology. “To be quite honest if I wanted to continue this, what I got was the best advertisement I could ever ask for but after seeing the situation of that couple apologizing and a few streamers’ reactions who thought I ‘did not care’, I feel like the total piece of shit I am,” they wrote. “The best course of action I have understood is to just wipe my part off the internet and help decrease the number of future videos of those involved. You will not see me pop up again,” they added. The incident puts a spotlight on the exploitation of women and cybercrimes such as deepfakes and sextortion. A large number of deepfakes involve pornography, and a 2021 study revealed that 90 percent of deepfake victims are women. According to Vice, while most U.S. states have laws against non-consensual sexual material, only California, Texas, and Virginia mention deepfakes. Last year, the EU updated its Code of Practice on Disinformation, requiring Big Tech companies to tackle the spread of deepfakes. However, the commitments under the code only kicked in last month. Therefore, there is currently no data to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative.
