X pauses Taylor Swift searches as deepfake explicit images spread

UNDATED (AP)- Social media platform X has blocked searches for Taylor Swift as pornographic deepfake images of the singer have circulated online. Attempts to search for her name on the site owned by Elon Musk resulted in an error message and a prompt for users to retry their search. Sexually explicit and abusive fake images of Swift began circulating widely last week on X. It’s made her the most famous victim of a scourge that tech platforms and anti-abuse groups have struggled to fix. An X executive calls it “a temporary action” being “done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.”