Deepfake Nudes & Young People: Navigating a New Frontier in Technology-facilitated Nonconsensual Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

Key Findings

• — ~6% of surveyed young people (13-20) reported being direct targets of deepfake nudes; 1 in 6 knew someone who had been depicted
• — 84% of young people recognize deepfake nudes as causing tangible psychological, emotional, and reputational harm
• — Youth who admitted creating deepfake nudes reported easy tool access: app stores (70%), social media (71%), search engines (53%)
• — Deepfake nudes function as technology-facilitated nonconsensual sexual abuse — used for harassment, blackmail/sextortion, and bullying among peers

Methodology Notes

Two-phase design: 16 exploratory interviews with subject-matter experts, then an 18-minute quantitative online survey of 1,200 US young people aged 13-20, fielded September 27 - October 7, 2024. Self-report data on a sensitive topic (likely underreporting); perpetration findings rest on a small admitting subsample.

Sources