MrDeepFakes was established in 2018 following the forced closure of a
Reddit discussion board dedicated to sharing deepfaked sexual content of public figures. The website was one of the most popular providers of deepfake pornography, with 12 million
monthly active users as of November 2023. It started blocking traffic from the United Kingdom in April 2024 following proposed legislation which aimed to outlaw production of deepfake material without the consent of those featured.
Investigations and closure In March 2024, the
open-source intelligence investigation company Sidenty identified the owner of the website as David Do, who reduced his social media presence after the Dutch newspaper
Algemeen Dagblad contacted him regarding an article about MrDeepFakes and the investigation. It closed on May 4, 2025, blaming an unspecified "critical service provider" which stopped working with the website. following an
investigative journalism operation which involved
CBC News,
Bellingcat,
Politiken and . Do was later placed on
leave from his role as a
pharmacist and had reportedly left the organization shortly after. In May 2025,
Søren Søndergaard, a member of the Danish
Folketing, sent a request to the
Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard for Do to be
extradited to Denmark. In August 2025, members of the Dutch
House of Representatives urged for his extradition to the Netherlands, with
Caroline van der Plas describing material on the site featuring her likeness as "like [being] digitally
raped". In September 2025, Antonio Rotondo, a prolific former user based in Australia, was
fined A$343,500 in addition to legal fees by the
eSafety Commissioner. == Features ==