A man who made global headlines after he continued sharing deepfake porn in defiance of an Australian court order is now facing one of the biggest fines ever threatened over the artificial intelligence-fueled abuse.
Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has recommended a fine between $400,000 and $450,000, The Guardian reported, suggesting that it’s warranted to deter other repeat offenders.
Fifty-three-year-old Anthony Rotondo, who divides his time between the Philippines and Australia, was ordered to take down AI-generated sexualized images of high-profile Australian women that Rotondo posted on the now-defunct Mr. Deepfakes site.
Earlier this month, that controversial site shut down forever after “a critical service provider” terminated the service “permanently,” but there hasn’t been much news of what happened to creators who uploaded tens of thousands of videos attracting more than 1.5 billion views. However, in a sign that more consequences may be coming, just this weekend, Denmark sought to extradite a Canadian pharmacist, David Do, who is suspected of playing a key role in operating Mr. Deepfakes. If convicted, Do could face up to six months in prison under Danish defamation laws and potentially additional charges elsewhere.
Rotondo is one of the first known Mr. Deepfakes creators, as verified by police. Instead of promptly removing the images, Rotondo was sanctioned $25,000 in December 2023 for defying that court order while continuing to target more victims in the days after he received it—allegedly including minors attending an Australian private school. While the names of his victims are supposed to be kept confidential, he also forwarded the court order to 49 email addresses, including to media outlets, which identified some of the victims. That email had another deepfake attached, The Guardian noted.
Australia reformed its laws to criminalize such deepfakes after Rotondo’s arrest, which followed an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) investigation into “an anonymous online creator” targeting seven Australian public figures online. He may avoid the maximum six-year prison sentence under those reforms but has since been charged with five counts of obscene publications and exhibitions, as well as one count of obscene publication and exhibition of a child under 16 years, ABC reported.
In court, Rotondo “did not show any remorse or contrition for his conduct,” Justice Roger Derrington said at the sanctions hearing, ABC reported. He apparently thought that the Australian order could not be enforced because he was a resident of the Philippines.
