Crest Advisory was commissioned by the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) on behalf of the Office of the Police Chief Scientific Adviser (OPCSA) to conduct research examining the social and psychological impacts of deepfakes on victims, with a focus on violence against women and girls (VAWG).​

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This focus reflects evidence that  the vast majority of deepfake videos are sexual in nature, with women being the disproportionate target of this abuse.

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What did we look at? 

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We asked broad questions about public attitudes towards and awareness of, deepfakes in order to answer the following questions:

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• What is the level of public knowledge around which types of deepfakes are illegal?

• What are public attitudes around what is right and wrong when it comes to deepfakes?

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The findings of this research contribute to a growing evidence base on public perceptions of deepfake VAWG, as well as the harms and impact of this abuse. 

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What did we find? 

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Following our research, we have published:​​​​

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1. Public Attitudes Survey​​

The survey asked a representative sample (n=1,700) of people in England and Wales about their understanding and attitudes towards deepfakes, including sexual/intimate deepfakes. The sample was representative on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity and home region.​​​​​

Key findings:

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• Around 25% of people agree with or feel neutral about the legal and moral acceptability of viewing, sharing, creating or selling a sexual or intimate deepfake – even when the person depicted has not consented

• 67% of survey respondents saying they had seen, or might have seen, a deepfake. 

• Those who found it morally and legally acceptable to create, view, share and sell sexual or intimate deepfakes were more likely to: hold views that were aligned with misogyny; currently watch pornography; feel positively about AI; be younger males under the age of 45

• Six in ten people are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ worried about having a deepfake made of them, with women more likely to feel this way

• Most described the content they viewed as humorous (43%), scam (43%) or political (42%), while fewer admitted to viewing a sexual deepfake – 21% of someone they don’t know and 14% of someone they do know

• 92% of those surveyed agreed that sexual deepfakes are harmful, and Crest Advisory’s review of existing evidence found that the psychological and emotional impact of deepfake abuse can mirror many of the effects of sexual assault

• Only 14% of those surveyed in April of this year were aware of the current legislation relating to deepfakes

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​​​​​​​​​2. Rapid Evidence Review

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Crest researchers reviewed existing evidence to understand what is currently known about the scale, nature and impact of deepfakes. Through this, we identified a knowledge gap around public attitudes toward deepfakes which gave impetus to our survey.  The evidence review also provided context for the findings of our survey.​​