US and international authorities seize deepfake porn sites targeting famous women
U.S. and international authorities seized two major deepfake pornography websites, CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com, which distributed AI-generated sexually explicit images and videos of famous women without their consent. The operation, conducted under the TAKE IT DOWN Act and resulting in the arrest of a French administrator, was described as a significant enforcement action against nonconsensual deepfake abuse.
What happened
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security seized the internet domains CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com, which specialized in publishing thousands of AI-generated and digitally-altered nude and sexually explicit images and videos of famous women, including politicians, first ladies, royalty, journalists, television presenters, athletes, entertainers, and others.
The sites allowed users to browse content by disturbing topic tags including 'rape,' 'forced,' and 'degradation.' Italian Polizia di Stato notified U.S. authorities about the websites, while a parallel investigation by the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office resulted in the arrest of Cyrille B., a 47-year-old French national accused of being an administrator for CFAKE, and the seizure of approximately $48,000 in Ethereum cryptocurrency from his home in Nice.
Reported impact
U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer stated that the sites 'trafficked in humiliation, exploitation, and the violation of personal privacy on a massive scale,' and that 'for the victims whose images were distributed without their consent, the harm is not virtual — it is deeply personal and often enduring.'
Index analysis
The operation was conducted under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a law passed in May 2025 that makes it a federal crime to post nonconsensual, sexually explicit digital forgeries of identifiable adults if the posting is meant to cause harm.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as 'a significant victory in the fight against deepfake pornography' and noted that the law 'gives us the tools we need to combat the abuse and exploitation of women and children through these fabricated images.'
Governance controls
The seizure operation marks one of the largest enforcement actions since the TAKE IT DOWN Act went into effect, requiring federal judges to find probable cause that the websites were actively breaking the law.
The investigation involved international coordination between U.S. authorities, Italian Polizia di Stato, and the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, with evidence shared through international cybercrime agreements.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.