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High Official statementNews report Investigation Opened

New York: the Manhattan District Attorney seized 12 websites selling AI-generated sexual deepfakes of about 1,200 real people

On 14 September 2026 Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the seizure of 12 domain names used to disseminate, publish and sell non-consensual AI-generated sexual 'deepfake' videos. His office said individuals under investigation had used AI image- and video-creation tools to turn photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people, overwhelmingly women, into hyper-realistic sexual imagery without consent. The victims included actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, activists and social-media influencers. WIRED and outside researchers reported that many videos reposted content from the defunct MrDeepFakes platform and that dozens of politicians appeared on the sites; investigations into who ran them are ongoing.

AI System

AI image- and video-generation tools (not identified), used to create non-consensual sexual deepfakes

Occurred

14 Sept 2026

Reported

14 September 2026

Event location

United States

Platform

other

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The Manhattan DA's office states AI image- and video-creation tools were used to turn real people's photos into sexual deepfakes; WIRED and cited researchers describe the AI-generated non-consensual imagery on the seized sites. The specific tools are not identified.

AI-to-person relation

  • Depicted or impersonated the person

Core relations are communication, acting on someone’s behalf, and depiction or impersonation. Decision and claim relations are retained as contextual cases.

Someone else’s AI use. Settings: Privacy, Justice, Everyday life.

Claim status: Documented

The Manhattan DA seized 12 domains used to disseminate, publish and sell non-consensual AI-generated sexual deepfakes of approximately 1,200 real people, overwhelmingly women, including actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, activists and influencers.

Causal attribution: Directly established by the DA's press release; corroborated by WIRED's independent reporting.

  • Official statement (supports): 'seizure of 12 domain names of illegal websites'; 'turn pre-existing photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people into what appear to be hyper-realistic images and videos of those individuals engaging in sexual conduct'; 'overwhelmingly women and primarily public-facing individuals'.
  • News report (supports): 'the seizure of 12 domains'; 'Around 1,200 people—overwhelmingly women—were depicted in nonconsensual sexual images and videos on the websites'.

Claim status: Reported

Many videos reposted content from the defunct MrDeepFakes platform, and dozens of politicians appeared on the sites (56 European, 16 US and two UK-based figures per the American Sunlight Project), some with profiles containing their names and positions.

Causal attribution: Reported by WIRED, citing researchers Benjamin Shultz (American Sunlight Project) and Leonie Oehmig (Institute for Strategic Dialogue); not part of the DA's release.

  • News report (supports): 'many videos appeared to be reposts of content that had originally be[en] shared on the MrDeepFakes website'; 'On at least two of the seized websites, elected officials were given profiles'; '56 European politicians... 16 US politicians and two based in the UK'.

Claim status: Documented

The seizure was carried out under a New York State Supreme Court warrant; the DA did not name the sites and said investigations into who ran them and uploaded content are ongoing.

Causal attribution: DA release and WIRED.

  • Official statement (supports): 'seized these websites pursuant to a court order'; 'Our investigations into these websites and similar operations are ongoing'; sites not named.
  • News report (supports): 'a seizure warrant issued by a New York State Supreme Court'; 'has not publicly named the websites'.

What remains unknown

  • No individual victim is named and the ~1,200 figure is the DA's approximation; how it counts depicted people versus content creators is not fully specified.
  • The site operators and uploaders are not identified and no arrests are reported.
  • How long the sites operated is unclear (WIRED cites one claiming to have been online since 2018); the anchoring event date is the 14 September 2026 seizure.
Source reading, translation and location

Official statement · en · Source inspected

Read in English on 2026-09-17 (DA press release, 14 Sep 2026). ~1,200 real people, 12 domains, overwhelmingly women, court-ordered seizure, ongoing investigation, victim hotline.

News report · en · Source inspected

Read in English on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2026-09-14). Independent reporting: observed takedown notices pre-announcement, New York State Supreme Court warrant, MrDeepFakes reposts, ISD and American Sunlight Project researchers, 56 EU / 16 US / 2 UK politicians.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: United States.

Event and court: the seizure was executed by the Manhattan DA under a New York State Supreme Court warrant (DA release, WIRED). Affected people span many countries (US, UK and dozens of European figures per the American Sunlight Project) and are not enumerated, so affected-person countries are left empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-17: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a bounded series of non-consensual AI-generated sexual imagery affecting about 1,200 real, identifiable-category people, anchored to the Manhattan DA's 14 September 2026 seizure. The DA's release and WIRED's independent reporting (with named researchers) are read; the count is the DA's approximate figure and the counting method for anonymous-actor artifact waves is flagged for the operator.

What Happened

On 14 September 2026 (announced Monday), Manhattan DA Alvin L. Bragg said his office had seized 12 domain names of illegal websites used to disseminate, publish and sell non-consensual celebrity 'deepfake' videos. According to the office, people under investigation used AI image- and video-creation tools to turn pre-existing photos and videos of approximately 1,200 real people into what appear to be hyper-realistic sexual images and videos, which were then published and sold. The victims and the content creators who sold the imagery are overwhelmingly women and primarily public-facing: actors, politicians, athletes, musicians, social-justice advocates and influencers. WIRED, which observed several of the sites' takedown notices before the announcement, reported the seizures were carried out under New York criminal procedure law and mark one of the most significant actions against explicit-deepfake sites since the technology emerged; researchers it cited (the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the American Sunlight Project) said many videos reposted content from MrDeepFakes, a notorious platform taken offline after its operators were unmasked, and that 56 European politicians, 16 US politicians and two UK-based figures appeared on the sites, with some given profiles containing their names and positions. The DA's office said its investigations remain ongoing and did not name the sites.

Reported harm

Approximately 1,200 real people, overwhelmingly women, had their faces and bodies turned into non-consensual AI-generated sexual imagery published and sold on 12 websites; the Manhattan DA described an immense toll on victims' emotional and mental wellbeing and careers, and seized the domains.

Exploitation or AbuseReputational HarmPsychological Distress

Outcome

Ongoing

The Manhattan DA's Cyber Crime Bureau seized the 12 domains under New York criminal procedure law pursuant to a court order (a New York State Supreme Court seizure warrant); the sites now display takedown notices. The office did not publicly name the sites and said investigations into who operated them and who uploaded content are ongoing; it urged victims to contact its Cyber Crime Bureau. The DA called it the largest known seizure of AI-generated celebrity deepfake websites to date.

People described

Approximately 1,200 real people, overwhelmingly women, depicted in non-consensual sexual imagery on the seized sites; per outside researchers they included actors, athletes, musicians, activists, influencers and dozens of politicians (reportedly 16 US, 2 UK and dozens of European); none is named in the inspected sources

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1200 people

0 AI participants · 1200 other people harmed

The Manhattan DA's office states approximately 1,200 real people were depicted in non-consensual sexual imagery on the 12 seized sites; WIRED independently reports the same approximate figure, and the American Sunlight Project counted dozens of politicians among them (56 European, 16 US, 2 UK). The 1,200 figure is the prosecuting authority's approximate count of depicted real people; recorded as a documented minimum.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). New York: the Manhattan District Attorney seized 12 websites selling AI-generated sexual deepfakes of about 1,200 real people. NOPE: AI and people. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-manhattan-da-deepfake-ncii-site-seizure

BibTeX

@misc{2026_manhattan_da_deepfake_ncii_site_seizure,
  title = {New York: the Manhattan District Attorney seized 12 websites selling AI-generated sexual deepfakes of about 1,200 real people},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {NOPE: AI and people},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-manhattan-da-deepfake-ncii-site-seizure}
}

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