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A recent survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun reveals a troubling rise in the use of AI-generated websites that allow users to create sexually explicit deepfake images. Over the past year, these websites attracted more than 18 million visits from Japan, making it the third-largest country in terms of traffic, following the United States and India.
The increasing popularity of such websites has raised significant concerns due to the harmful content being created. These platforms allow users to upload images and generate fake explicit content, contributing to the spread of deepfakes, especially on social media.
Experts have called for the creation of rules and regulations to combat the misuse of deepfake technology. Ichiro Sato, a professor at Japan's National Institute of Informatics, emphasized the importance of passing laws and improving information literacy to mitigate the negative impact of deepfakes, especially given the damage they cause to people's privacy and reputations.
Millions of Visits and Growing Trend
The study tracked visits to 41 websites that specialize in producing sexually explicit deepfakes. According to data from the digital analytics firm Similarweb Ltd., Japan accounted for 18.43 million visits from December 2023 to November 2024. The United States led with 59.73 million visits, followed by India with 24.57 million.
On average, around 410,000 users from Japan accessed these websites each month, with approximately 80% of them visiting via smartphones. Many of these websites offer tools in English, Russian, and some in Japanese, enabling users to create and share explicit images.
Increase in Deepfake Content
The rise in deepfake activity coincided with the launch of several new websites in 2024. A report from U.S. cybersecurity firm Security Hero highlighted that nearly 96,000 deepfake videos were detected online in 2023 alone—five times the number seen in 2019. Shockingly, 98% of these videos were sexually explicit in nature.
As deepfake content continues to grow in popularity, countries are beginning to take action. Japan, too, is urged to introduce legislation similar to other nations to regulate the creation and distribution of such content. Experts also stress the need to enhance public education around information literacy to help users understand the risks associated with generating and spreading deepfake media.
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