Manhattan DA seizes a dozen sites hosting fabricated sexual imagery

reported by 2 outlets· 2 articles · confidence: medium · first seen 2026-09-14 16:50 UTC

What this means for you

Nothing to change in your stack. What is new is the actor: a state district attorney taking domains, rather than a platform takedown or a federal case. Neither report gives charges, operator names or a legal mechanism, so whether this becomes repeatable is unknown.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has seized 12 websites that hosted fabricated sexual imagery of real people, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a press conference on Monday. Bragg put the number of people whose likenesses appeared on the sites at about 1,200. Neither report names the sites or their operators, and no arrests or charges have been reported. Wired describes the action as the largest taken against such sites; the two accounts differ slightly on the figure, one counting victims and the other counting likenesses used.

Key facts

  • ·The Manhattan District Attorney's Office seized 12 websites hosting fabricated sexual imagery. source
  • ·District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Monday, at a press conference, that the sites included about 1,200 people's likenesses in "hyper-realistic" sexual imagery. source
  • ·Wired describes the seizure as the biggest legal action to date against harmful deepfake websites. source
  • ·The seizure was reported on 14 September 2026; neither report names the sites or their operators, or mentions arrests or charges. source

What the sources say

  • Wired AI — Places the seizure in context, describing it as the broadest enforcement action of its kind so far.
  • 404 Media — Carries the prosecutor's own account from his press conference, including the number of people depicted.

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire