Deepfakes, Digital Violence, and the War on Women’s Bodies

It’s happening again.

Another national story, another name we didn’t know, another monstrous system exposed—not because it stopped itself, but because it was profitable until someone forced the curtain back.

This week, CBC exposed a Canadian man as a key figure behind one of the largest deepfake pornography sites in the world. A digital empire built on the synthetic sexual exploitation of women and girls. Thousands of faces—stolen, manipulated, violated—turned into commodities for the click economy. 

We need to call this what it is: image-based sexual violence, industrialized.

This isn’t a tech story. It’s not about innovation. It’s about power, misogyny, and how the oldest forms of violence have found new tools. It’s about the way rape culture has evolved into a multi-platform, AI-enhanced ecosystem. One that turns women into images and violations into entertainment.

It’s also about how we saw this coming.

When we consulted on BC’s intimate image legislation years ago, we raised red flags about where this was headed. At that time, deepfakes were emerging—but the technology wasn’t yet widely accessible. Now, with generative AI tools, anyone can create hyper-realistic synthetic porn in minutes. And once it’s out there, it’s nearly impossible to contain. 

What has changed is not the intent—but the scale and the reach.

Survivors—often women, girls, trans and non-binary people—are left devastated. They’re told that what happened to them isn’t “real” because the photo was fake. But the impact is real. The harassment is real. The fear is real. The trauma is real. And the silence is crushing. 

What makes this moment so devastating is that it’s happening in a broader landscape of retreat:

• Gender-based violence is rising.
• Public supports are eroding.
• Online hate against women is exploding.
• The tech industry remains largely unregulated.
• And the justice system is still dismissing survivors with phrases like “it’s just online.”

It feels—honestly—like we’re losing ground.

But we won’t give up. We can’t give up.

Every survivor who has come forward, every advocate who has spoken truth, every law we’ve fought for, every story we’ve exposed—it has built something. And it’s ours to protect.

So to every survivor out there:
You are not alone.
You are not overreacting.
You are not imagining it.

We believe you. We see what this is. And we are climbing this hill together.

This fight is far from over—but neither are we.