While generative AI has been praised for driving creativity and imagination, there have been growing concerns over its use to create graphic and non-consensual images of public figures, such as politicians and celebrities. Understandably, this has encouraged many to call for tougher laws and social media policies across various platforms regarding the creation and distribution of such content.
Witan Solicitors has looked at the number of monthly Google searches for deepfakes of prominent public figures, such as actresses, singers and even streamers to find out which cities are most interested in AI-generated fakes. All search results were normalised per 100,000 residents.
The Most Common Celebrity Victims
Although the Online Safety Act 2023 may recognise that deepfakes are harmful and wrong, that does not mean that their popularity is declining. In fact, our research revealed that searches for deepfakes have increased by 18% in the last year. This suggests that, despite the controversy, the number of people creating, sharing and viewing this content is only growing.
According to Google, here are the most common celebrities with fake images falsely attributed to them.
- Pokimane - 4,400 searches
- Jenna Ortega - 3,100 searches
- Addison Rae - 2,900 searches
- Brooke Monk - 2,400 searches
- Emma Watson - 1,900 searches
- Millie Bobby Brown - 1,800 searches
- Billie Eilish - 1,600 searches
- Margot Robbie and QTCinderella - 1,300 searches each
- Ariana Grande, Elizabeth Olsen and Madison Beer - 1,200 searches each
- Talia Mar - 1,100 searches
Deepfake Hotspots
Here are the areas where people are the most interested in deepfakes.
| Rank | City | Searches Per 100,000 Residents |
| 1 | Birmingham | 1290.213779 |
| 2 | Peterborough | 1162.940158 |
| 3 | Bournemouth | 1161.369193 |
| 4 | Slough | 1160.114058 |
| 5 | Warrington | 1148.341553 |
| 6 | Walsall | 1103.746347 |
| 7 | Swindon | 1023.657258 |
| 8 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 987.6183843 |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 978.6247747 |
| 10 | Norwich | 891.3241324 |
| 11 | Milton Keynes | 826.2989202 |
| 12 | Southampton | 771.727166 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 751.6090367 |
| 14 | Luton | 736.382733 |
| 15 | Plymouth | 730.1991138 |
| 16 | Belfast | 691.4874258 |
| 17 | Bradford | 634.7933581 |
| 18 | Swansea | 632.5910931 |
| 19 | Cambridge | 631.1776513 |
| 20 | Preston | 606.3855591 |
| 21 | Reading | 597.4579735 |
| 22 | Oxford | 583.498658 |
| 23 | Mansfield | 581.5373521 |
| 24 | Wigan | 570.1091759 |
| 25 | Ipswich | 559.1746582 |
Methodology
Witan Solicitors analysed search data using Google's Keyword Planner to see the number of times residents in each of the UK's 50 most populated cities (excluding London boroughs) make searches for terms, such as "deepfake", "jenna ortega deepfake", "margot robbie deepfake" and "emma watson deepfake". Results were normalised per 100,000 residents. The cities were then ranked based on the normalised data. The city with the most searches per 100,000 residents was crowned the top deepfake hotspot in the UK.
To access the full dataset, email lhoneghan@witansolicitors.co.uk.
