So basically, this Twitch streamer, Atrioc (real name Brandon Ewing, apparently), got caught. Like, *caught* caught. On his own stream. Watching… deepfake porn. And not just any deepfake porn, but stuff featuring other female streamers, some of whom he’s apparently friends with? Yikes.
He did the whole tearful apology thing, like, a full-on 14-minute video. Which, okay, maybe he’s genuinely sorry. I dunno. It’s hard to tell, right? The internet’s all about performance these days, you can’t always be sure if it is real, I mean, right? It just all feels so performative sometimes.
The thing that really gets me, though, is the deepfake aspect. This isn’t just some random porn he was watching. It’s AI-generated stuff using *real people’s faces* without their consent. That’s just…creepy. Like, super creepy. I mean, imagine finding out there’s a whole bunch of fake porn out there with *your* face on it? No freaking way. I would flip.
And then there’s the whole power dynamic thing. He’s a relatively well-known streamer, and these are, you know, fellow streamers. So, yeah, it just layers on the ick factor. And the fact that he was *paying* for this stuff, as some reports say? Ugh. Even worse. Like, actively supporting this garbage.
Some people are saying he should be cancelled, that this is totally unacceptable. Others are like, “Hey, it’s his personal life, let him do what he wants.” And I’m just sitting here thinking, “Okay, but he did it on *stream*.” Like, come on, dude. Read the room. Maybe double-check your tabs before you start broadcasting to thousands of people? Just a thought. I am not trying to start something, but there is no way he did not think that would not happen.
Honestly, I don’t know what the “right” answer is. But I will say that, like, this whole thing has definitely made me think more about the ethics of AI, consent, and the weird parasocial relationships we have with streamers.
