Sexualization of Children in Deepfakes and Hentai: Examining Reddit User Views
Open accessAbstract
Based on a large dataset (N=13293) of Reddit comments collected on the topic, this article takes a qualitative approach to examine Reddit users’ views and attitudes about the sexualization of minors (SOM) in deepfakes and hentai. The analysis captured five major themes in the discussion over SOM: illegality, art, promoting pedophilia, increase in offending and general harmfulness. Furthermore, the discussion was underscored by the central question of who is a minor, which feeds the already problematic definitional ambiguity and keeps the perceived discursive boundaries of the illegality of SOM in flux. Current study adds to the existing literature by presenting information that could be useful in designing prevention and awareness efforts addressing SOM and CSAM, particularly to the general public.
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DeepFakes can cause serious harm to vulnerable children, individuals, and society at large with misinformation.
“A more sinister threat emerges when DeepFakes are used to create child pornography or sexually explicit fake content [2,3].”
From A Comprehensive Review of DeepFake Detection Using Advanced Machine Learning and Fusion Methods (2023) · cites this paper as [3]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
A Comprehensive Review of DeepFake Detection Using Advanced Machine Learning and Fusion Methods
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- Authors
- Eelmaa, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Corresponding author
- Eelmaa, Simone
- ORCID
- Eelmaa, Simone
- Venue
- Trames Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Center for Open Science
- Published
- 2021-03-25
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 229-248
- ISSN
- 1406-0922 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4285288431
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 6.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Trames Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Eesti Teadusagentuur (PRG700)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Keywords
- deepfakes, hentai, child pornography, Reddit comments, online pornography, pedophilia, user attitudes
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