Google modifies its search engine to reduce the visibility of false sexually explicit content

MADRID, (Portaltic/EP) – Google has announced a series of changes to its search engine that will help reduce the appearance of false sexually explicit content in search results, and which complement the process that already allows victims to request its removal.

Advances in imaging technology have led to an increase in images and videos being generated that depict people in sexually explicit contexts and are being distributed on the Internet without their consent.

These are known as ‘deepfakes’, realistic manipulations made with AI tools, and they must be distinguished from real and consensual explicit content, such as nude scenes of an actor or actress, although it is not easy to convey this difference to search engines.

Google is aware that false sexually explicit content “can cause deep distress in the people affected” and has therefore announced new features in the search engine aimed at improving protection.

For years, anyone can request the removal of non-consensual fake images from search results. When the process is initiated, Google’s systems try to filter out all explicit results for similar searches about that person, and also look for duplicates of that image and delete them.

These protections have now been expanded to cover fake sexually explicit images as well. “These efforts are intended to provide greater peace of mind, especially when there is concern that similar content about a particular person may appear again in the future,” the technology company said.

Google has also changed the ranking systems that position high-quality information at the top of the search results to further limit the visibility of explicitly false content. These changes mean that explicitly false content is reduced in many search queries.

For queries that expressly search for this type of content and even include the name of specific people, the results first show non-explicit and quality content, such as relevant news, if there is any.

Google says that with the changes introduced this year, exposure to explicit image results in these types of queries has been reduced by more than 70 percent.