Pennsylvania woman created deepfake images to get daughter's rivals kicked off cheer squad

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pennsylvania-cheer-squad-mom-allegedly-cyberbullied-minors-deepfakes-officials-say-n1261055

A Pennsylvania woman is facing multiple harassment charges for allegedly creating deepfake images and videos and using them to anonymously cyberbully her daughter's cheer squad, according to authorities in Bucks County.

In charging documents, the Hilltown Township Police Department allege that Raffaela Spone, 50, harassed several of the staff and members of the Victory Vipers cheer squad in Doylestown.

After the first victim came forward alleging cyber harassment, several others came forward too, police said, and at least one victim received a message encouraging suicide.

Spone allegedly created digitally manipulated images and videos — known as deepfakes — that falsely showed her daughter's teammates drinking, vaping, and posing nude, all activities that would get them kicked off the squad.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub told NBC News on Sunday that the use of deepfake images was "one of the more disturbing aspects of this case, because it would seem to me this technology is available to anyone."

"I don't know mechanically how she was able to do it, but I can tell you that she's an ordinary citizen — I don't know that she has any more technological proficiency than your neighbor down the street," Weintraub said.

"It was an unsophisticated attempt, but nevertheless it was successful," Weintraub said.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

Yup, sounds like Bucks County alright.

[Samof94]

Yup, sounds like Bucks County alright.

The plot of the most depressing Bring It On movie, where characters have tryouts cancelled by Covid.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Get rid of all the Karen definitions on Urban Dictionary and replace them with a picture of this lady.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

US and UK pornography laws are quite different in regards to this. I know in the UK if a type of pornography is illegal (like child pornography or bestiality), it's illegal to fake that as well and claim it's a depiction of the banned activity. But in the US "faking" such things is not illegal*. Also nude photos of minors are not inherently considered child pornography or illegal in the US (although it does sound that the ones she used would be if they depicted actual minors.)

_{*Of course, one could argue that such things would usually fail the Miller Test and be considered "obscenity" and then illegal, but those laws are almost only used against pornographers mass producing such content for profit and conviction is very hit or miss.}

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

US and UK pornography laws are quite different in regards to this. I know in the UK if a type of pornography is illegal (like child pornography or bestiality), it's illegal to fake that as well and claim it's a depiction of the banned activity. But in the US "faking" such things is not illegal*. Also nude photos of minors are not inherently considered child pornography or illegal in the US (although it does sound that the ones she used would be if they depicted actual minors.)

_{*Of course, one could argue that such things would usually fail the Miller Test and be considered "obscenity" and then illegal, but those laws are almost only used against pornographers mass producing such content for profit and conviction is very hit or miss.}

If this isn’t illegal in the US, it should be. I’d really like to see someone introduce a bill to that effect.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

US and UK pornography laws are quite different in regards to this. I know in the UK if a type of pornography is illegal (like child pornography or bestiality), it's illegal to fake that as well and claim it's a depiction of the banned activity. But in the US "faking" such things is not illegal*. Also nude photos of minors are not inherently considered child pornography or illegal in the US (although it does sound that the ones she used would be if they depicted actual minors.)

_{*Of course, one could argue that such things would usually fail the Miller Test and be considered "obscenity" and then illegal, but those laws are almost only used against pornographers mass producing such content for profit and conviction is very hit or miss.}

If this isn’t illegal in the US, it should be. I’d really like to see someone introduce a bill to that effect.

Whether such a bill could pass Constitutional muster is a valid question.

[Damocles]

Sounds like my home state alright lol

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

US and UK pornography laws are quite different in regards to this. I know in the UK if a type of pornography is illegal (like child pornography or bestiality), it's illegal to fake that as well and claim it's a depiction of the banned activity. But in the US "faking" such things is not illegal*. Also nude photos of minors are not inherently considered child pornography or illegal in the US (although it does sound that the ones she used would be if they depicted actual minors.)

_{*Of course, one could argue that such things would usually fail the Miller Test and be considered "obscenity" and then illegal, but those laws are almost only used against pornographers mass producing such content for profit and conviction is very hit or miss.}

If this isn’t illegal in the US, it should be. I’d really like to see someone introduce a bill to that effect.

Whether such a bill could pass Constitutional muster is a valid question.

I don’t see how it would be any more of an issue than revenge porn laws.

[Tender Branson]

This is something people from Atlas would do with my pictures (and they actually did in the past).

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

This is something people from Atlas would do with my pictures (and they actually did in the past).

You mean that wasn't your actual basement?

[Proud Houstonian]

She wants to help her daughter but took it too far

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Fascinating update on this old story:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/11/she-was-accused-of-faking-an-incriminating-video-of-teenage-cheerleaders-she-was-arrested-outcast-and-condemned-the-problem-nothing-was-fake-after-all

The mother was a busybody, it looks like, but the pictures were in fact real.

[SWE]

Um, if she's digitally putting minor's faces on naked bodies, how is that not a felony?

US and UK pornography laws are quite different in regards to this. I know in the UK if a type of pornography is illegal (like child pornography or bestiality), it's illegal to fake that as well and claim it's a depiction of the banned activity. But in the US "faking" such things is not illegal*. Also nude photos of minors are not inherently considered child pornography or illegal in the US (although it does sound that the ones she used would be if they depicted actual minors.)

_{*Of course, one could argue that such things would usually fail the Miller Test and be considered "obscenity" and then illegal, but those laws are almost only used against pornographers mass producing such content for profit and conviction is very hit or miss.}

If this isn’t illegal in the US, it should be. I’d really like to see someone introduce a bill to that effect.

Whether such a bill could pass Constitutional muster is a valid question.

I don’t see how it would be any more of an issue than revenge porn laws.

Whether revenge porn laws violate the First Amendment (or at the very least, how a revenge porn law would need to be written to comply with the First Amendment) is also very much an unsettled question. As far as I'm aware, everyone agrees that the state has some power to prohibit sharing revenge porn, but how broad vs how narrow the category of what can be prohibited is is still very much up in the air with no uniformity among the states. Wouldn't be shocking if SCOTUS eventually addressed that issue and imposed a standard that a lot of state's revenge porn laws wouldn't meet.

[SWE]

"I don't know mechanically how she was able to do it, but I can tell you that she's an ordinary citizen — I don't know that she has any more technological proficiency than your neighbor down the street," Weintraub said

I feel like if you're a prosecutor and you're not sure how it's possible for the defendant to have committed the alleged offense, that's something you should get sorted out before you bring charges. If you're asking the question "how is this possible?", the answer may very well be "it's not." But because some cop and prosecutor decided to move forward on a case they didn't even understand, an innocent person had her reputation dragged through the mud nationally and faced criminal penalty. The scenario in which this women is guilty was, being generous, extremely implausible, whereas the truth, that teenagers lied to avoid getting in trouble for vaping, is something anyone capable of using occum's razor would come up with the day this case lands on their desk. A prosecutor has an ethical duty not to bring charges forward unless they believe they can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Here, a technologically illiterate prosecutor brought forward charges that didn't pass the initial smell test without doing the bare minimum research to figure out that confirm that no, an ordinary person cannot just magically conjure up realistic deepfake videos like this

[T'Chenka]

Fascinating update on this old story:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/11/she-was-accused-of-faking-an-incriminating-video-of-teenage-cheerleaders-she-was-arrested-outcast-and-condemned-the-problem-nothing-was-fake-after-all

The mother was a busybody, it looks like, but the pictures were in fact real.

Oh wow...

[dead0man]

Fascinating update on this old story:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/11/she-was-accused-of-faking-an-incriminating-video-of-teenage-cheerleaders-she-was-arrested-outcast-and-condemned-the-problem-nothing-was-fake-after-all

The mother was a busybody, it looks like, but the pictures were in fact real.

my favorite part is that the cops made a serious public announcement of something based entirely off the word of a 17 year old, with no, ya know, evidence and then when they found out the truth, didn't say sh**t to anybody (other than the DA).

[dead0man]

I kept reading, the girl who lied and started the entire this is doing "great" if anyone was wondering....in that she has 92k followers on her private TikTok and The Lifetime Channel is making a movie about her life.  Both of those things seem to be double edged swords to me (especially if the movie tells the story true and not how it was originally presented, as is often the case, the real story is a way better story than the alleged one).

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Fascinating update on this old story:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/11/she-was-accused-of-faking-an-incriminating-video-of-teenage-cheerleaders-she-was-arrested-outcast-and-condemned-the-problem-nothing-was-fake-after-all

The mother was a busybody, it looks like, but the pictures were in fact real.

my favorite part is that the cops made a serious public announcement of something based entirely off the word of a 17 year old, with no, ya know, evidence and then when they found out the truth, didn't say sh**t to anybody (other than the DA).

And the lead officer on the case turned out to be a pedophile who ended up going to prison for possession of child pornography.