Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter….) has blocked users from searching for ‘Taylor Swift’ after taking a “temporary action” to prioritise safety. It comes after artificial intelligence-generated explicit images of the star were widely circulated across multiple platforms last week. The fake photos were shared millions of times until legions of Swifties flagged the accounts responsible and flooded the socials with authentic images and videos, encouraging everyone to “protect Taylor Swift”. Manipulating pics of celebrities is nothing new, but one 2023 study found the rise of AI has contributed to a whopping 550% increase in phony photos since 2019. The White House labelled the spread of the shonky Tay-Tay snaps as “alarming” – many US politicians want new laws to criminalise the creation of deepfake images, particularly ahead of this year’s presidential election.