The manosphere ‘wizards’ behind the deepfake epidemic sweeping social media
The Metro piece focuses on how online misogynist communities described as the manosphere celebrate a small set of highly skilled creators and guides as deepfake wizards. It says these figures are praised for teaching others how to generate sexualised deepfakes of real women and girls, turning what used to require specialist skills into something many more people can do quickly and repeatedly.
It frames the result as an epidemic of image based abuse across social media, where victims face humiliation, fear, and reputational damage, and where the volume and speed of creation makes reporting and removal feel futile. The article opens with first person testimony about sexual violence and the lasting impact of shame, then links that lived experience to how deepfake abuse amplifies control and degradation online.
It also situates the trend in the wider controversy around AI tools being used to create intimate deepfake images on demand, pointing to the pressure now building on platforms to prevent such outputs rather than only reacting after harm spreads.
