How deepfake porn victims in NYC suburb Levittown helped convict the perpetrator, a former classmate, an ordeal further complicated by the lack of clear US laws
A group of young women in a New York City suburb, horrified to learn their photographs had been manipulated and posted online, took matters into their own hands. Bluesky: @leahnylen.bsky.social . X: @ttp_updates , @bradstone , @dannygroner , @ajmartinny , @livcarville , @livcarville , @livcarville , @zekefaux , @livcarville , and @sankalp_sp Bluesky: Leah ‘AntiTrustButVerify’ Nylen / @leahnylen.bsky … : If you read nothing else today, take the time to read this important investigation by my colleagues into deepfake porn. [embedded post] X: @ttp_updates : By releasing open-source software, AI companies have made it easy for predators to create deepfaked sexual images of victims. This piece from @livcarville & @margimurphy shows how existing laws aren't keeping anybody safe - except the perpetrators. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Brad Stone / @bradstone : A harrowing DeepFake whodunnit on the cover of @BW by @livcarville and @MargiMurphy. When a group of young women saw their photos were manipulated online, they took matters into their own hands: https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @BW Danny Groner / @dannygroner : “They got calls late at night from foreign numbers, with heavy breathing at the end of the line. In response, most deleted their social media accounts. One dropped out of college. Another says she lost 20 pounds from stress. At least two started carrying knives in their handbags” Andrew Martin / @ajmartinny : Make sure you read this spectacular and horrifying story by @livcarville and @MargiMurphy about a group of Long Island woman who were victims of deepfake pornography and helped track down the person behind it. https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @BW Olivia Carville / @livcarville : The deepfakes included captions about the girls being raped and murdered + their real names and numbers. They went to police but were told there wasn't much that could be done: The poster was anonymous, the pics were fake. So, they decided to take matters into their own hands Olivia Carville / @livcarville : As these teens try to unmask the Long Island predator, our story shifts to an ex-cop in New Zealand 👮🏼♂️ He discovers the same sex site hosting child porn and charging women money to remove fake nudes. He starts investigating the man behind the site... Olivia Carville / @livcarville : In April, these two investigations intersect in a totally unexpected way 🤯 This is a story of female empowerment in the era of generative AI. It's long. But, we reckon it's worth your time. Thanks to @rfriedman305, @jeremy_keehn, @joelwebershow for believing in it 🙏🏻 Zeke Faux / @zekefaux : Been waiting to read this expose from @livcarville Olivia Carville / @livcarville : 🧵 On NYE 2020, a group of teens from the same Long Island high school discovered they'd become victims of violent deepfake porn. That's where our story starts. But it twists and turns in so many unexpected ways.. Read my latest in @BW with @MargiMurphy https://www.bloomberg.com/... Sankalp Phartiyal / @sankalp_sp : The US has no federal laws to fight deepfake porn. So when a group of young women saw their photos were manipulated online, they took matters into their own hands https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @BW
Context & Ripple Effects
This case lands as US lawmakers were already seeking penalties for AI-generated nude-image abuse, while earlier coverage described a state-by-state legal patchwork rather than a clear federal remedy. It turns that policy gap into a concrete test of how victims can pursue accountability.
The underlying harm predates this incident: deepfake pornography had become widespread on porn sites, and the release of open-source AI software has lowered the barrier to producing manipulated sexual images. Earlier reporting also warned that non-consensual material can persist in datasets used to make more of it.
First-order effects
- The Levittown victims’ work helped secure a conviction against a former classmate, creating immediate accountability in a case where federal law offered limited clarity.
- For victims and investigators, the ordeal underscores that identifying a creator and assembling evidence can become central when the applicable legal route is uncertain.
Second-order effects
- The case adds practical urgency to the legislative response already forming around AI-generated nudes, and reinforces the limits of relying on uneven state protections such as those noted in earlier state-level deepfake-porn laws.
- Open-source image-generation tools become a sharper policy focus: easier creation expands the gap between the scale of abuse and the ability of victims to seek individual remedies.
Third-order effects
- If cases like this continue, the US is likely to face growing pressure to move from a patchwork of state rules toward clearer, more consistent treatment of non-consensual synthetic sexual imagery.
- The broader challenge is a synthetic-supply problem: tools can make harmful images cheaply and repeatedly, while takedown, evidence gathering, and legal remedies remain comparatively individualized.
The trend: This is one data point in the widening collision between rapidly accessible generative-AI tools and legal systems built for slower, individually produced forms of image-based abuse.