X ends ban on Taylor Swift searches after explicit fake images spread

San Francisco : Elon Musk-run X has lifted the ban on searches for Taylor Swift that blocked queries of her name for several days following the spread of explicit, digitally altered photos of her.

Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday, that "search has been re-enabled and we will continue to be vigilant for any attempt to spread this content and will remove it if we find it."

The company blocked searches for Swift after her AI-generated explicit images went viral on its platform last week. The popular singer's images were seen by millions before X removed those. The company was criticised for a slow action on those images.

After blocking, searches for Swift's name yielded the error message: "Something went wrong. Try reloading." The social media platform had called the measure a temporary action done with an "abundance of caution."

A ban on search results came after the White House weighed in last week, calling the fake images "alarming" and emphasising that social media companies have a responsibility to prevent the spread of such misinformation.

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said that the explicit Swift AI fakes are “alarming and terrible.” Swift was reportedly weighing possible legal action against the website responsible for generating the deepfakes.