12 celebrity deepfake websites seized by Manhattan DA

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has seized the domains of 12 deepfake websites in what it called the largest known seizure of celebrity deepfake sites in history. The sites, which marketed themselves as deepfake pornography platforms, hosted AI-generated videos of over 1,200 people, including those in the public eye, ranging from politicians to actors, musicians, and social justice advocates. At least one allowed users to create their own deepfakes by grafting real faces and bodies onto sexual imagery. The term non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) is increasingly used instead of pornography when the person depicted has not given permission. Deepfake NCII is growing , due in part to the ease with which it can be created. It only takes one photo to generate it, as we discussed on the Lock and Code podcast in June. MrDeepFakes was previously the largest site for this kind of content. Its operators shut it down in May 2025, citing data loss. An Australian man who posted explicit deepfakes to the site was arrested , fined for contempt of court, and charged with publishing obscene material. But other deepfake NCII sites continue to compete for attention online. Deepfake technology can cause real harm when misused, and its effects continue to spread. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg warned that domestic abusers are threatening to release deepfake NCII depicting their victims. The FBI has also warned that sextortion attackers are using AI to turn social media photos of minors into sexually explicit images. Legal action is growing Law enforcement has been working hard to stem the flood of deepfake NCII sites. In June, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security seized two domains hosting hundreds of thousands of forged images and videos. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu’s office also sued 16 deepfake sites in August 2024, managing to get ten of them taken offline or made inaccessible in California. New York state also passed legislation prohibiting the distribution of intimate deepfake images and videos in 2023. At the federal level, the TAKE IT DOWN Act , enacted in May 2025, made certain intentional publication of NCII, including sexual deepfakes, a federal crime. Seizing a deepfake site stops the immediate distribution of its content, but operators can migrate quickly to other infrastructure. A report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that the deepfake ecosystem is made of many parts, from AI tool providers through to hosting companies and cryptocurrency payment processors. It called for a multi-sector collaboration to stop the production and spread of this material. Bragg’s office said it will continue monitoring the seized websites to stop them reappearing under different domains. What can you do? If someone creates or threatens to share intimate deepfakes of you, save the evidence and report it to the police. Do not pay someone who threatens to publish the images, as payment does not guarantee that the threats will stop. Bragg’s office said many of the victims it approached did not realize that action could be taken. It urged anyone affected by the seized websites to contact its Cyber Crime Bureau at 212-335-9600. You can learn more in the Malwarebytes guide to deepfakes . UN Women also provides useful resources for people affected by AI-powered abuse. Scammers don’t need to hack you. They just need you to click once. Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection catches suspicious activity before it becomes a problem. About the author Danny Bradbury has been a journalist specialising in technology since 1989 and a freelance writer since 1994. He covers a broad variety of technology issues for audiences ranging from consumers through to software developers and CIOs. He also ghostwrites articles for many C-suite business executives in the technology sector. He hails from the UK but now lives in Western Canada.