Empowerment or exploitation: A qualitative analysis of online feminist communities’ discussions of deepfake pornography

Sammanfattning

This thesis serves to provide insight into the textually constructed identities that online feminist groups create when discussing deepfake pornography, as well as positions that feminist users embody in regards to their ability to change dominant uses of deepfake pornography. Deepfakes, powered by artificial intelligence and deep learning, involve taking individuals’ faces and placing them on images and videos for various purposes and includes but is not limited to pornography. Much is known regarding the potential ramifications of deepfake technology in general, however, little is known concerning social groups and their perceptions of deepfake pornography. Additionally, there is no data in connection with feminist perspectives of deepfakes in online communities. In order to interpret the empirical data, this thesis employs various theoretical concepts in connection with technofeminism (Wajcman, 2004) in order to understand participants’ perceptions and attitudes towards deepfakes. It also utilizes moral foundations theory (Graham et al., 2013) to unpack moral concerns that communities may have regarding deepfake pornography. Based on a discourse analysis of three Reddit feminist communities: r/PornIsMisogyny, r/fourthwavewomen, and r/TwoXChromosomes, this thesis finds that through their discussions, feminist communities construct a multitude of identities in relation to deepfake pornography, all of which are directly tied to their sense of moral principles. These identities contrast victims and perpetrators, as well as hold identities of governments and parents accountable for the spread of deepfake pornography. Additionally, many feminist users express vigilante justice and criminalization as potential catalysts for change, which is reflected in social constructionism, while other users express feelings of hopelessness and exhibit alternative positions more consistent with technological determinism. Thus, this emphasizes that collaborative efforts from governments, those in power, as well as private citizens are needed to address challenges that deepfake pornography poses to society as a whole.