Deep fakes are when an image of someone, often a celebrity, is superimposed onto other media. In 2020, Queen Elisabeth II became a victim of deep fakes when British Television company Channel 4 created 'The Alternative Christmas Message 2020'. Recent advances in deep fake technology have made deep fakes harder to detect.

Deep fake porn uses this same technology to put the images of celebrities on the bodies of porn actors. With the rise of Social media, more everyday people are amassing millions of followers and being subject to the demanding expectations of fanbases. Recently several Women Twitch streamers were caught out with their images being used on deep fake porn websites.

Popular male Twitch Streamer 'Atrioc', was streaming when he accidentally revealed a Tab displaying deep fake porn of his fellow streamers Pokimane and Maya Higa. Atrioc was using the site 'BAVFAKES', which boasts having the "biggest twitch deep fake content ever created with 25+ streamers and 350+ videos and counting, all my own work with each video being unique". The site has been taken down, but many more are still operating. This situation led many streamers to discover they were on this site, including SweetAnita.

Image-based abuse, like deep fake porn, severely impacts the people involved. It breaches the privacy of the victims and leaves a severe mental and even physical impact on the victim. Tweets from streamers involved express the effect that image-based abuse has had on them, including SweetAnita, who tweeted, "Don't know whether to cry, break stuff or sealed at this point", and QTCinderella, who revealed the impact the photos had had on her body dysmorphia.

Henry and Flynn's (2019) study into Image-based abuse distribution found three things. There was a high demand for non-consensual imagery, the motivations of perpetrators were sexual gratification or proving social status rather than revenge, and the majority of these sites were designed for the pleasure of heterosexual men at the expense of the objectification of women.

Law reform in Australia to tackle image-based abuse has led to what has been described as "some of the most comprehensive [laws against image-based abuse] in the world". Laws have been introduced in all States and; Victorians in Australia (except Tasmania). Victorian Law includes the threat to share images.

During filming the 9th season of Married at First Sight Australia, Olivia Frazer shared a nude photo of a fellow contestant, Domenica Calarco, amongst their co-stars. Dom was previously an Only Fans creator before taking down her account, losing a few hundred dollars of income. Olivia and Dom had fought previously on the show.

Dom said she wasn’t ashamed of the image but was upset at how it was shared without her consent. Consent is the biggest issue in this type of abuse. Often the victim took these images, and they consented to the initial act. The victim's consent does not extend to the distribution of anyone else unless expressly stated. 

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) Section 15 defines an ‘intimate image’ as an image or video that shows or appears to show:

Olivia found and shared an image she thought would humiliate Dom. Olivia believed it would make her seem like the bigger person. She was wrong. Public reaction to the image was mainly in Dom’s favour. One fan wrote on twitter.com, “Why are we still shaming women for having autonomy over their bodies?” Fans even started a petition asking the Police to investigate Olivia's potential ‘revenge porn’ crime.

On-screen response by the show ‘experts’ matched the fans. John Aiken said, “This dinner party is all about payback.” The NSW Police are still investigating the incident, Dom revealed Olivia was refusing to talk to police, holding up the investigation. 

Image-based abuse has many negative impacts on Victims. Domenica discussed that she struggled with PTSD after the incident. Mental harm is not the only impact of image-based abuse. Image-based abuse can limit a victim's sexual expression and reinforce gender inequalities.

Radicalisation is a gradual indoctrination into a group with an extreme or radical ideology. Radicalisation can sometimes lead to violent outcomes, sometimes even including mass shootings and genocide attempts. Internet-facilitated Radicalisation can be accidental or targeted, though in both, social media algorithms extend their reach.

Algorithms are mathematical coding for data processing that is used to cater content to a user's personal interest, it sometimes creates an echo-chamber of ideas. The online Alt-right community exists primarily as an amalgamation of ideology and beliefs. There are no members or leaders of the communities but rather hashtags, followers and viewers of content, creating a more extensive reach and less accountability than similar offline iterations such as the Klu Klux Klan.

Accidental Radicalisation of a Fanbase works as a media personality makes an edgy joke and receives a positive reaction from a small portion of their fanbase, allowing them to create edgier jokes. Moreover, they and their fanbase become further radicalised by the acceptance and normalisation of the ideas being commented on. PewDiePie is an example of this cycle of radicalisation. Casual jokes included the use of racial slurs, which extended to paying people to write the words “death to all Jews” and even extended to promoting other channels that spewed the same harmful rhetoric.

The Pyramid of Violence can be used to explain how those fall down the pipeline. Beginning simply with attitudes and beliefs, Stereotypes become microaggressions. When those microaggressions are allowed, they become bigger, verbal expressions before finally Physical Violence and, in the most extreme cases, Genocide. When these people reach the end of the pipeline, they have only a few choices, Leave and accept the guilt that comes with their hateful words and actions, or Death of themselves or someone else. The Christchurch shooter chose Death.

Lone Wolf Terrorism is the outcome of the Pipeline. Lone Wolf terrorists act independently of any terrorist organisation, though they have ties to extremist networks. The responses to Lone Wolf terrorism are often Reactive; in the Christchurch shooting, they had to respond to the act of terrorism. Proactive policing is complicated. Often, extremists go undetected within memes and online subcultures. Additionally, not all radical extremists will commit these egregious acts of violence. Proactive policing could work if states list these hateful groups as terrorist organisations,  which has yet to be done.

There are informal social responses to these radicals. Twitch streamers Hasanabi and Vaush are known online to utilise the curated language of these online subcultures and hijack dog whistles of the alt-right to disrupt the progression of those on the Alt-Right. 

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Illegal hacking is a second-generation and cyber-dependent crime. The Cyber Crime Act 2001 (Cth) introduced Computer crimes into the Criminal Code Act 1995. There are three types of Security Hackers, White, Black, and Gray Hats. Gray Hat Hackers occasionally break the law when hacking, but often do not commit any other criminal acts. Black Hat hackers utilise faults in computer systems to engage in other crimes.

Anonymous is an international hacktivist collective. Anonymous’ main focuses are anti-cyber censorship, anti-cyber surveillance and Internet Activism. Anonymous has many high-profile cyberattacks on people, governments and Companies. Anonymous is generally considered Gray Hat hackers due to their focus on activist issues, however, they can occasionally be considered Black Hat hackers. This is because although the same title, ‘anonymous’, is used, the decentralised nature of anonymous allows people to stray from the main focuses. 

In 2012 a woman referred to as ‘Jane Doe’ was raped by two high school football stars in the US. Anonymous hacked the Steubenville football team's fan website. Anonymous then set up ‘The Steubenville files’ which included photos of more alleged victims of the boys branded ‘the rape crew’ by friends. The site also included compromised emails and other information. They then released a 12-minute video of Steubenville footballers’ laughing and joking about their teammates’ crimes against Jane Doe. In 2013 Trent, 17, and Ma’lik, 16, were found guilty. 

In 2020, Anonymous hacked into a US Police Department. They had originally threatened Minneapolis Police Department, but weeks later they had hacked into Atlanta Police Department. After Rayshard Brooks was shot to death on the night of June 12th, the Police Department’s website was taken offline. Whilst actions like these are impossible to truly align with Anonymous, any person can claim to be a part of Anonymous and carry out these attacks. “We are from the Internet. We are #Anonymous. We are everywhere.” 

Anonymous’ most recent claims are to create an action against Russia in the Ukraine war. Whilst there are no reported actions as of writing, Anonymous Social Media accounts are focusing on events in Ukraine and Russia.

Because Anonymous is not an official organisation but a loosely affiliated collection of individuals it presents a challenge when trying to respond. Hacking prevention is reliant on Cyber Security improvements though there are instances when Cyber Security firms have been hacked by Anonymous. It is an adaptive industry as when improves so does the other.

Gamergate was an online campaign of abuse and harassment focusing on game designers Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu, and feminist media blogger Anita Sarkeesian. Gamergate eventually extended to encompass many more Woman and Persons of Colour in the games industry. A mob of primarily cis-het white men utilised a smokescreen argument of ‘ethics in Journalism’ to target and harass woman participants in the male dominated online games culture. Gamergate was a continuation of the extensive history of Harassment and misogyny.

Many of the people involved in Gamergates worst online mobs are also found in other Alt-Right forums and groups including the reddit forum r/politicallyincorrect, where this abuse first manifested. 

The abusive culture started long before gamergate. It did not lead to the rise in extremism but was another symptom of the extremist culture. Gamergate is just another part of systemic bigotry and an extension of Domestic Violence with the inclusion of some of the victims former partners. Towards the beginning of the ‘movement’ Zoe Quinn’s former partner released a 10 000 word manifesto revealing intimate details about their relationship and sex life. 

Doxing is the publishing of private identifiable information on the internet about a particular person, often times including their home or work address, or contact information.

Felicia Day, gamer and actor, initially feared speaking about gamergate like many others as she believed she would be targeted. She was doxed minutes after. Anita Sarkeesian was also doxed among others. Anita also faced a variety of other threats including rape and death threats, a bomb scare, and an email promising a mass shooting at an event of she was planned to speak at. Anita's Wikipedia was also at one point changed to say she had died on the date of a speaking event she was planning to attend, she also had many gender-based slurs used against her. Some women were even driven from their homes in fear of these threats eventuating after being doxed.

Gamergate was investigated by the FBI amongst the FBIs involvement in other online bullying and harassment cases. In 2011 ‘Brodies law’, an amendment to the Crimes Act 1958, was introduced making serious bullying a crime. Criticism of Gamergate also frequently ignores the Racism that was faced by many.