One woman experienced that when an innocuous selfie she posted on social media more than a year ago appeared on a sex forum with a startling differenceβshe is naked. Yesterday, the year-old woman, who wanted to be known only as Rose, was aghast when The New Paper told her photo had been doctored using artificial intelligence to show her in the nude.
She is not alone. Over the past week, dozens of women in Singapore have had their pictures on social media stolen, doctored and uploaded to the sex forum. Some of these pictures have been compiled and recirculated on pornographic sites, with more additions every day.
The photos are believed to have been doctored using a version of the DeepNude app, which was launched several months ago. Its creators, who listed their location as Estonia, shut down the application last month following an uproar on social media. Several versions of the software have since surfaced online. Versions of the app have been shared via download links on the sex forum, which has a high number of visitors from Singapore.
Forum users could also submit photos and request for them to be doctored by those who have the software. The doctored pictures would then be uploaded and circulated. Rose believes circulation of her doctored photo had led to a recent surge in followers on her social media accounts.
What if someone else did this to their mothers, sisters, wives or girlfriends? Lawyers told TNP that while there has not been any reported prosecution here over the use of the DeepNude app, using it to doctor photos to make people appear naked is a criminal offence under the law.
