The Dark Magic of 4chan's Wizards: Unpacking the Toxic World of Deepfake Exploitation A recent study by Leonie Oehmig, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, has shed light on a disturbing phenomenon: the use of deepfakes to humiliate and dehumanize women on 4chan.
The report's findings are nothing short of chilling – men with technical expertise can wield power over online communities by creating synthetic intimate images, often at the request of others.
At its core, this issue is about the toxic culture that enables and celebrates the exploitation of women. Language used on 4chan's /r/ board, where these requests are made, normalizes misogyny.