Reddit closes ‘deepfakes’ subreddit with face-replaced porn

Reddit has closed the ‘deepfakes’ subreddit. On that subreddit, users shared porn clips, in which creators replace the faces of actors and actresses with another face via machine learning.

The subreddit’s closure was accompanied by a new rule on Reddit that explicitly bans porn with faces replaced. An earlier version of the rule only banned porn that users posted without permission from the people appearing in it. The deepfakes subreddit had 91,000 followers.

The rule soon follows a Twitter ban on porn in which faces have been replaced. Making such porn was made easier a few weeks ago with the release of FakeApp, which makes it possible without knowledge of machine learning or programming.

Reddit’s ban only affects the porn subreddit. A subreddit dedicated to the app is still online, as is a version with non-pornographic creations.