Characterizing Resource Sharing Practices on Underground Internet Forum Synthetic Non-Consensual Intimate Image Content Creation Communities
For policymakers and platform moderators, this work identifies critical intervention points to deter SNCII dissemination by analyzing resource sharing across multiple underground forums.
This paper characterizes resource sharing practices in synthetic non-consensual intimate image (SNCII) creation communities on 4chan and Reddit, analyzing 282,154 comments and 78,308 submissions over 165 days. It finds that users with varying technical sophistication share primary resources for content creation and secondary resources for dissemination, with knowledge transfer between experts and newcomers facilitating propagation.
Many malicious actors responsible for disseminating synthetic non-consensual intimate imagery (SNCII) operate within internet forums to exchange resources, strategies, and generated content across multiple platforms. Technically-sophisticated actors gravitate toward certain communities (e.g., 4chan), while lower-sophistication end-users are more active on others (e.g., Reddit). To characterize key stakeholders in the broader ecosystem, we perform an integrated analysis of multiple communities, analyzing 282,154 4chan comments and 78,308 Reddit submissions spanning 165 days between June and November 2025 to characterize involved actors, actions, and resources. We find: (a) that users with differing levels of technical sophistication employ and share a wide range of primary resources facilitating SNCII content creation as well as numerous secondary resources facilitating dissemination; and (b) that knowledge transfer between experts and newcomers facilitates propagation of these illicit resources. Based on our empirical analysis, we identify gaps in existing SNCII regulatory infrastructure and synthesize several critical intervention points for bolstering deterrence.