Danish MP calls for extradition of Canadian behind notorious AI porn site

A Danish MP is calling for the extradition of the Canadian pharmacist behind a notorious porn site that hosted deepfake images of celebrities, politicians, social media influencers and others, including prominent Canadian and Danish women.

Last week, Danish MP Søren Søndergaard submitted a letter to the country's justice minister asking whether Danish authorities would demand that Canada extradite David Do so he can face prosecution in Denmark and to explain their reasoning if not. 

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence tools to insert a person's face into another photo or video. There are free tools to do this, including "nudify" apps for explicit deepfakes, but high-quality ones require thousands of images of a victim in addition to expensive computer hardware and technical know-how. 

Sharing non-consensual deepfake pornography can be punished by up to six months in prison under Denmark's defamation laws, which ban the misuse of a person's image in a way that manipulates their appearance or improperly impersonates them.

"To use persons and put them into pornographic situations is not allowed, and we have some victims in Denmark," Søndergaard told CBC.

"Therefore, I asked the minister, will they do something? Will they try to to get the responsible [person] prosecuted for for that act?"

A bill to amend the law was introduced in March. If passed, it would ban not just the sharing but also the production of deepfake pornography and make it clear that sharing deepfakes without consent may constitute the kind of misuse of identity prohibited by the law.

In Canada, it is currently not illegal to create or share AI-generated porn, although Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged  during the election campaign that he would work to have both criminalized.

In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said that passing a law criminalizing non-consensual deepfakes is a priority.

 "As committed to in the 2025 election platform, our government will protect the victims of sexual violence and will make the production and distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes a criminal offence," the spokesperson said. "It will also increase penalties for the distribution of intimate images without consent and sexual assault on summary conviction."

Site no longer operating

Earlier this month, CBC's Visual Investigation Unit — in collaboration with open-source investigative outlet Bellingcat and Danish publications Politiken and Tjekdet — revealed that Do, a pharmacist who worked for the Oak Valley Health network in the Greater Toronto Area, was a key person behind the MrDeepFakes.com, one of the most notorious sites for non-consensual deepfake porn. 

MrDeepFakes hosted almost 70,000 non-consensual and sometimes violent deepfake videos and images. 

Canadian YouTuber Sarah Z., who CBC found images and videos of on MrDeepFakes, said seeing the images causes "reputational and psychological damage."

The site also hosted deepfakes of several Danish public personalities, including Queen Mary, the wife of the country's monarch, King Frederik X. 

At its peak, the website was getting millions of views a month and had over 650,000 users. 

The website was shut down on May 4 after CBC and its media partners told Do that it would be naming him and revealing his role in the enterprise. 

Danish justice minister has 30 days to respond

Deepfake porn content has exploded in recent years. According to a report by cybersecurity firm Security Hero, there has been a 550 per cent increase in the number of deepfakes between 2019 and 2023..

"Many people are afraid to put a picture of their children playing with some other children on the internet… because it can be misused for [deepfake porn]," said Søndergaard. "I think it's very important to say we don't want such a society."

Canada has an extradition treaty with Denmark, which states that it can agree to extradite someone if their alleged act is a crime in both countries. Even if deepfakes per se are not outlawed as yet, it's possible Do could be extradited on the basis that he is alleged to have violated existing harassment or defamation laws.

"We are talking about an action which is not only taking place in Canada but all over the world. including in Denmark where we have a law saying this is not allowed," said Søndergaard. "So there will be a discussion whether or not Denmark will have the right to get this person extradited."

The Danish justice minister has 30 days to answer Søndergaard's question. 

Do no longer employed by Oak Valley Health

Do was employed by Oak Valley Health as an in-patient pharmacist at Markham Stouffville Hospital and Uxbridge Hospital until May 15.

"David [Do] is no longer an employee following an investigation which followed allegations in the media," Rebecca MacKenzie, a spokesperson for Oak Valley Health, told CBC. 

Do is still registered in good standing with the Ontario College of Pharmacists, according to its website. The College previously told CBC that the allegations were "extremely serious" and that it was investigating the matter.

A CBC News reporter had approached Do in an attempt to interview him about his role in the website. Do told the reporter he didn't want to be recorded and that he was busy, before driving away in his vehicle.