Twitch streamers respond to their faces being used in predatory deepfake videos

The following report contains details some readers may find distressing.

This week, Twitch streamer Atrioc took to the site to apologise after he’d previously confessed to watching explicit deepfake videos of fellow streamers. The site was spotted on Atrioc’s browser by fans one day prior and is known for selling predatory deepfake videos of popular female streamers like Pokimane and Maya Higa.

A tearful Atrioc tried to brush the whole incident off as an accident. He explained, “I’ve been reading so much f**king AI stuff. [...] This is so embarrassing of me - but I was on f**king PornHub dude, I was on a f**king regular ass normal f**king website, and there was an ad, there’s an ad on every f**king video for this f**king … So other people must be clicking it because it’s on every f**king video, for f**king deepfake thing.”

He continued, “And then I click it and I’m f**king in this f**king rabbit hole, and at 2AM, I f**king … I dunno, I got morbidly curious and I clicked something. It’s gross. It’s gross and I’m sorry, I really am, I really f**king am. […] It’s so embarrassing, so embarrassing. I just really wanna get across it’s not like a f**king pattern of behaviour.” Atrioc added that he could prove he’d only visited the website once.

The appalling situation has left many female streamers feeling violated and distressed. Those involved were not aware their likeness was being used on the site. QTCinderella wrote, “I want to scream. Stop. Everybody f**king stop. Stop spreading it. Stop advertising it. Stop. Being seen ‘naked’ against your will should not be a part of this job.” During a Twitch stream, she later said, “This is what pain looks like. The objectification of women is exhausting.”

Sweet Anita added, “This story was how I found out that I’m on this website. I literally choose to pass up millions by not going into sex work and some random Cheeto encrusted porn addict solicits my body without my consent instead. Don’t know whether to cry, break stuff or laugh at this point.” Pokimane simply said, “Stop sexualising people without their consent. That’s it. That’s the tweet.”

In a further statement, Atrioc wrote, “I want to specifically apologise to Maya and Pokimane. You were both in the screenshot that spread around the internet. Your names were dragged into it and you were sexualised against your will. You have both succeeded in this industry in spite of all the blatant unfounded sexist attempts to hurt or assassinate your character in a male dominated space. And now I'm another guy on that long list. I'm sorry I didn't reach out sooner, I'm sorry my actions have led to further exploitation of you and your body, and I'm sorry your experience is not uncommon.”

Atrioc added, “Through the efforts of QT and Ryan Morrison's law firm, the website in question has already been taken down. I have spoken with Morrison and am working to cover the financial cost of the takedown as well as all legal fees for all women affected to use his services for removing their unwanted content from the web.” The streamer said he would step away from content creation “to ensure this issue has my full focus.”