DeepFake image removal request is not honored – How to remove AI generated deep fake photo?
Someone created an AI generated deepfake photo of me which was upload to a website hosted on servers belonging to The-Online.com. I’ve send DMCA and deepfake takedown request to Cloudflare which directed me to that website’s hosting provider which is The Online. Here, I sent DMCA and also written email that the infringing site is using my deepfake images. All I got was a reply that they’ve asked the said website owner to remove the fake photo. But its been 3 months its still live on that site. My repeated emails were not answered. I’ve tried to hire services from SOHUM and RepScan which said they’ll send a legal notice to hosting provider and site owner but still that deep fake photos are not taken down.
Hi Shilpa, Please note that The-Online.com is a trusted and respected web hosting company in the U.S, Europe and Asia and as such we also abide by the laws. We go by law of the land where our servers and datacenter is located. Thus we do not take down content on DMCA report if the content is hosted outside the U.S. DMCA is a North American law. Please send a copy of court order by email/fax and we’ll forward it to our legal team and will take appropriate action if required. Hope this helps.
The Online does not removes content merely just because someone uploaded your deepfake photo. You’ll need a legal remedy to remove deep fake images from the infringing website. I myself host many websites here and never got DMCA or any takedown notice. Web hosting companies are not in position to decide what is legal or illegal. They just act on court orders as they are just intermediaries. Even an attorney’s letter or legal threat of suing is not sufficient here.
Agree with Philip. I had got few images removed from a website hosted with the-online.com when I sent them a court order. I am a professional photographer and someone stole my entire album of 15 images and claimed it was theirs. So I had to hire lawyers and go to court which gave the takedown order. It’s hectic, time-consuming and burden on pocket. If the site was hosted in USA, I was sure DMCA takedown request was sufficient. But since it was not hosted in U.S. I had no option to go in court.
There are many false DMCA complaints all over to take down content and distrub a business. That’s why I am hosting my sites with The Online last five years. Unlike other local providers in Europe and Asia who generally honor DMCA takedown request and disable content abruptly causing distrubance in running website, The-Online.com is more safe and legit hosting provider which only takes action on content removal on legal order from court. I think this helps to remove only real infringing content like deepfake or other material. I think every web host should follow this procedure only. I’ve seen many Indian and European web hosting providers just removing content or suspending entire site without verifying if the content is infringing or not. Just because someone sent a DMCA or equivalent takedown request does not mean that the web host should decide about it. Let the court decide.
Using services which promise to remove deepfake photos and ai generated images is of no use if the host like the-online.com is based in EU. Sohum and RepScan, etc. may be able to remove deepfake uploaded to U.S. based companies like Youtube (Google), Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Trustpilot, Google Reviews, etc. Content removal is harder in EU jurisdiction. Moreover, privacy laws are strict here. Web host can’t even disclose who owns the infringing website nor can share name, address or IP address even to courts unless the abuser is first notified and permission is taken to disclose their identity.
That’s the reason there are many DMCA ignored hosting providers based in Europe. I have came across types of content they host including private leaks, revenge p*rn, negative reviews (real and fake), doxxing, etc. and such content or photos are not easily removed just by sending DMCA or takedown notice. Large hosts like Strato, Hetzner and OVH cloud even if based in EU will act quickly on it disabling content. Even Leaseweb also takesdown infringing content quick now-a-days.
Don’t even try SOHUM or RepScan or any such online deepfake removal service. Its of no use. Even U.S. based companies don’t remove content on such third-party requests. Hire an attorney and get it done. It’s more cheaper and quick and I’ve found hosting companies or social media companies taking serious note when they receive lawyer’s letter.
Hetzner is quite strict for abuse and dmca. They only give 24 hours or your vserver is suspended. I moved away from Hetzner and now hosting with SpectraIP. Quite good for hosting Japanese manga.
Guess what many deepfake photo generator sites are hosted on the-online.com’s servers. The frontend sites sits here and the backend AI editing and creating of deep-fake image is done on some massive backend server from other providers which offer high CPU/GPU machines.