Who Are the Targets of Deepfakes? Evidence From Flagged Videos on Tiktok and Youtube

16 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2024

See all articles by Carl Ohman

Carl Ohman

Uppsala University - Department of Government

Date Written: March 14, 2024

Abstract

This study draws on a dataset of 1413 (openly) doctored videos from YouTube and TikTok, coded by the race, gender, profession and nationality of the individuals featured in the clips. The findings suggest that, by stark contrast to pornographic sites, deepfakes shared on mainstream platforms overwhelmingly feature individuals who are white, male, and—when in politics—authoritarian. Based on a qualitative analysis of the videos, it appears that their chief cultural function is not satire but what may rather be interpreted as a carnivalesque profanation of the faces of power. These findings challenge previous studies on the demographics of deepfake targets and broaden the scope of current literature by shedding light on how deepfakes are used beyond deception and porn.

Keywords: Deepfakes, Generative AI, TikTok, YouTube, Social Media, Satire, Disinformation

Suggested Citation

Öhman, Carl, Who Are the Targets of Deepfakes? Evidence From Flagged Videos on Tiktok and Youtube (March 14, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4759677 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4759677

Carl Öhman (Contact Author)

Uppsala University - Department of Government ( email )

SE-223 70
Uppsala
Sweden

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