Deepfakes of you: what you can actually do about them

Deepfakes used to need skill and time. Today, a few photos and a free app are enough to put someone's face into a video or their voice into a recording. Most deepfakes of real people fall into three groups: sexual content, scams and content made to humiliate or mislead. All three can be fought.

Step 1: don't panic, and don't spread it

It is natural to want to show people that the content is fake. But every share creates another copy. Tell people it exists and that it is fake, without sending it on.

Step 2: record it

Save the links, take screenshots with the date and keep any messages that came with it. If the deepfake is being used to ask for money, keep the account details and payment instructions.

Step 3: the right report for the right fake

• Sexual deepfakes: reported as intimate images shared without consent, which platforms treat with priority.
• Scams and fake endorsements: reported as impersonation or fraud.
• Fake statements or interviews: reported as manipulated media and, where relevant, as defamation.

Beyond the platform, the hosting provider, the domain registrar and search engines can all be made to act. We file on every one of these channels for you.

Step 4: know your legal options

In most European countries, sexual deepfakes, extortion and fraud are already crimes. A 2024 EU directive requires every member state to make the non-consensual sharing of intimate images a crime, including deepfakes. Your image and your voice are also personal data under the GDPR, so you can ask for their erasure.

Step 5: protect the people around you

Deepfake scams often target the people who trust you: family members, colleagues, fans. Warn them. For families and teams, agree on a code word that any real urgent call would include.

Why speed matters

Deepfakes spread like any other viral content: fastest in the first hours. Finding them early, before they are copied and reposted, makes removal much easier.

You can't stop everyone from making a deepfake. You can act fast to get it taken down.

Praivon watches for images, videos and audio that use your face or your voice. On Premium, new findings are checked for deepfakes every day and for cloned voices every week; on Signature, for deepfakes every hour and for cloned voices every day. When we find one, you get an alert with the evidence, and we go after it on every channel until it's resolved.