Atrioc goes live on Twitch to give second update on deepfake DMCA takedowns

Twitch streamer Brandon "Atrioc" went live on the platform for the second time since his deepfake p*rnography controversy to share another update on his battle to remove deepfakes from the internet. In January, he issued an apology after accidentally showing an open tab of deepfake p*rnography featuring multiple popular female streamers. In his apology, he promised to step away from content creation in favor of aiding efforts to get these deepfakes removed from the internet.

Since then, Atrioc's gone live on Twitch twice, both times being 20-minute updates detailing the work he is doing alongside streamers like Maya Higa, Pokimane, and QTCinderella. In his second update on March 24, he lauded the increased effectiveness of these DMCA takedowns of deepfake sites. He stated:

"In total, even since we last talked, we've gotten 21,092 DMCA takedowns, and 13,090 things delisted from Google."

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Atrioc gives update on deepfake takedowns

The streamer and former Twitch employee was at the center of a controversy surrounding deepfake p*rnography of female streamers. During one of his streams, he accidentally revealed an open tab that was filled with deepfakes of streamers, many of whom he knew personally.

A clip of the incident, which went mostly unnoticed at the time, began making the rounds on social media and the R/LivestreamFail subreddit. This led to an infamous apology stream days later.

In his apology, he stated that he would step away from content creation, as well as his co-founder role at OFFBRAND, to focus on aiding efforts to remove deepfake sites from the web. He partnered with QTCinderella as well as attorney Ryan Morrison, helping to cover the costs of having deepfakes removed from the internet. He stated:

"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. Additionally, I am engaging more law firms to continue to remove this content from other areas of the internet such as Reddit."

On March 15, Atrioc went live on Twitch to share some of the progress their efforts have made. He went live again with another update on March 24, where he stated that the process of having deepfakes DMCA'd or delisted from Google is becoming cheaper and more effective.

He stated that in February, they were able to get 426 sites taken down, with costs totaling around $60,000. He described those results as a win, but not a very effective one. So far in March, those numbers have drastically increased, getting over 21,000 sites DMCA'd and another 13,000 delisted from Google. He also claimed that overall costs have gone down.

Although Atrioc certainly deserved most of the criticism he received, he does seem to be making a genuine effort to atone for his actions, and the results seem to be making a real difference.