Introducing Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire

Summary

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Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire (Trailer)

Podcast: Understood
Host: CBC
Episode: Introducing Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire
Date: February 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

This introduction sets the stage for the latest season of Understood, focusing on the shadowy world of deepfake pornography. Hosted by journalist Sam Cole, the season promises to unravel the billion-click industry built on AI-generated, non-consensual porn, highlighting the devastating toll on its victims and exposing the network of people and platforms that drive this illicit trade. Through investigative reporting across multiple countries, the podcast seeks to track down the individuals profiting from these crimes, culminating in a revealing face-off with the so-called "kingpin" of deepfake porn in Canada.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Proliferation and Power of Deepfakes

• Definition and Technology
  • Deepfake videos use AI to convincingly fabricate appearances and actions.
    • (00:07) Expert: “Deepfake videos, which are manipulated using AI, can make someone appear as though they're saying or doing something that they're not.”
  • Their seamlessness makes them difficult to identify as fake.
    • (00:14) Sam Cole: “Some are so seamless, you might not even realize you're looking at a fake.”
• Societal Impact
  • Initially, much of the concern focused on political manipulations and national security.
    • (00:22) Sam Cole: “You may have heard about the dangers deepfakes can pose to politics. These manipulated images can pose a very real national security threat.”
    • (00:30) CBC Host: “Videos could become a real and present danger to our democracy.”

2. The Neglected Threat: Deepfake Porn

• Ignored Dimension
  • The conversation around deepfakes largely ignored the rise of deepfake pornography.
    • (00:37) Sam Cole: “But no one was really thinking about porn.”
  • The repercussions often fall hardest on women, who are targeted and exploited.
    • (00:44) Sam Cole: “Deepfake porn didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built by people on platforms inside subcultures. It was allowed to spread while governments dragged their feet and tech companies shrugged. And at every step someone profits, while the targets, almost always women, pay the price.”

3. Victims’ Experience & Psychological Impact

• Firsthand Accounts
  • Traumatic experiences are recounted by survivors.
    • (01:15) Deepfake Victim: “I'm staring at myself in this video that I know I haven't made. I know I didn't consent to being made. Felt like such a deep, deep violation.”
    • (01:26) Deepfake Victim: “This is what pain looks like. This is what it looks like to feel violated. This is what it looks like to see yourself naked against your well being spread all over the Internet.”
• Victims’ Response
  • Many victims move from shock toward resistance and activism.
    • (01:39) Deepfake Victim: "I'm not just gonna like sit here and take it."

4. The Hunt: Tracing the Deepfake Supply Chain

• Key Platforms: Mr. Deepfakes

  • Specific platforms are named and examined, notably “Mr. Deepfakes.”
    • (02:03) CBC Host: “Mr. Deepfakes.”
    • (02:05) CBC Host: “Mr. Deepfakes is the most notorious non consensual deepfake porn site in the world.”
  • These sites act as both distribution hubs and training grounds, enabling the spread and creation of new content.
    • (02:10) Sam Cole: “A site distributing deepfake porn and training thousands of users to make it.”
    • (02:15) Deepfake Victim: “We found what looked like an instruction manual.”

• International Investigation

  • The scale of the investigative effort spans several countries and newsrooms.
    • (02:19) Sam Cole: “We'll follow a team of journalists across three countries and four newsrooms as they investigate the world's largest deepfake porn website and come face to face with the man behind it.”

• Identifying the Kingpin

  • A break in the investigation reveals a surprising Canadian connection, echoing pop-culture crime dramas.
    • (02:31) Investigator: “That Gmail was connected to a hotmail belonging to this random guy in Canada.”
    • (02:36) Investigator: “And we thought, this can't possibly be the guy. It was like a Breaking Bad scenario.”
    • (02:42) Sam Cole: “Yeah, this was your Walter White.”
    • (02:43) Investigator: “Exactly.”

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• (00:14) Sam Cole: “Some are so seamless, you might not even realize you're looking at a fake.”
• (00:44) Sam Cole: “Deepfake porn didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built by people on platforms inside subcultures...someone profits, while the targets, almost always women, pay the price.”
• (01:15) Deepfake Victim: “I'm staring at myself in this video that I know I haven't made... Felt like such a deep, deep violation.”
• (02:05) CBC Host: “Mr. Deepfakes is the most notorious non consensual deepfake porn site in the world.”
• (02:42) Sam Cole: “Yeah, this was your Walter White.”
• (02:43) Investigator: “Exactly.”

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• What is a Deepfake? – (00:07-00:14)
• Shift from Politics to Porn – (00:22-00:40)
• Victims’ Stories – (01:15-01:39)
• Introduction to Mr. Deepfakes – (02:03-02:15)
• Global Investigation Details – (02:19-02:31)
• The Canadian Kingpin Revelation – (02:31-02:43)

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Tone & Style

The episode is urgent, empathetic, and investigative, combining Sam Cole’s seasoned journalism with haunting victim testimony and the intrigue of a high-stakes international hunt. The mood invokes both the emotional realities of the targets and the suspense of a criminal investigation.

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Summary

The trailer for Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire sets up a season that will expose the inner workings of a hidden, harmful industry. It centers on the stories of women whose lives have been upended by deepfake porn, the platforms that train and enable actors in this space, and the journalists determined to reveal those steering the empire from behind their screens. The investigation brings listeners from victim testimony to the doorstep of a Canadian kingpin, promising an in-depth, human-centered look at one of the internet’s darkest new frontiers.

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Transcript

[CBC Host]

This is a CBC podcast.

[Sam Cole]

Deepfake videos are everywhere.

[Narrator/Expert]

Deepfake videos, which are manipulated using AI, can make someone appear as though they're saying or doing something that they're not.

[Sam Cole]

Some are so seamless, you might not even realize you're looking at a fake.

[Investigator/Journalist]

We're moving into a future where you.

[CBC Host]

Really won't know what's real online.

[Sam Cole]

You may have heard about the dangers deepfakes can pose to politics. These manipulated images can pose a very real national security threat.

[CBC Host]

Videos could become a real and present danger to our democracy.

[Sam Cole]

But no one was really thinking about porn.

[CBC Host]

No, nobody was thinking about porn.

[Sam Cole]

I'm Sam Cole. I was the first journalist to report on deepfake porn back in 2017. And I've been following the story ever since. And here's what I've learned. Deepfake porn didn't come out of nowhere. It was built by people on platforms inside subcultures. It was allowed to spread while governments dragged their feet and tech companies shrugged. And at every step someone profits, while the targets, almost always women, pay the price.

[Deepfake Victim]

I'm staring at myself in this video that I know I haven't made. I know I didn't consist to being made felt like such a deep, deep violation.

This is what pain looks like. This is what it looks like to feel violated. This is what it looks like to see yourself naked against your well being spread all over the Internet.

[Sam Cole]

Did you kind of decide, like, this is now in my hands, what else am I gonna do?

[Deepfake Victim]

I'm not just gonna like sit here and take it.

[Sam Cole]

This season on Understood, we meet the women who've been targeted in deepfake porn and ask if you follow the trail all the way to the source, who does it lead to?

[Investigator/Journalist]

These images, they were like hunting me. And the biggest platform was Mr. Deepfakes.

[CBC Host]

Mr. Deepfakes.

[Deepfake Victim]

Mr.— Deepfakes.

[CBC Host]

Mr. Deepfakes is the most notorious non consensual deepfake porn site in the world.

[Sam Cole]

A site distributing deepfake porn and training thousands of users to make it.

[Deepfake Victim]

We found what looked like an instruction manual.

[Sam Cole]

We'll follow a team of journalists across three countries and four newsrooms as they investigate the world's largest deepfake porn website and come face to face with the man behind it.

[Investigator/Journalist]

That Gmail was connected to a hotmail belonging to this random guy in Canada.

And we thought, this can't possibly be the guy. It was like a Breaking Bad scenario.

[Sam Cole]

Yeah, this was your Walter white.

[Investigator/Journalist]

Exactly.

[Sam Cole]

From CBC Podcasts. This is Understood. Deepfake Porn Empire coming February 17th. Wherever you get your podcasts, this is the hunt.

[CBC Host]

Now, this kind of like, how do we track him down? For more cbc podcasts, go to cbc ca podcasts.