4chan ‘Wizards’ Collaborate to Produce Nonconsensual Deepfake Imagery, ISD Report Finds

Research published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) has identified a coordinated network of users on the anonymous imageboard 4chan who collaborate to create nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII). The study, led by researcher Leonie Oehmig, analysed thousands of posts from late 2025 to early 2026, revealing a hierarchical community structure where men request explicit edits and a subset of users, known as ‘wizards’, perform them to gain social status within the platform.

The investigation found that these public threads frequently serve as origin points for the distribution of NCII to more private platforms such as Telegram and Discord. Oehmig’s analysis of posts from early December 2025 through early March 2026 identified a repetitive pattern where users supply photographic material and command prompts, while ‘wizards’ execute the digital removal of clothing or the insertion of sexual acts. Those fulfilling these requests are often addressed with titles such as ‘sir’ or ‘master’, reinforcing a power dynamic that Oehmig describes as reflecting the urge for control that drives sexual abuse.

The abuse frequently targets women known to the perpetrators, including family members, friends, colleagues, and bosses. Oehmig noted that requests often include humiliating scenarios, such as subjects being depicted with smeared makeup, spit, or in degrading contexts such as being crucified. In some instances, requests are framed as challenges or tests of ability, with users seeking transformation videos or pictures of subjects who are unaware they are being targeted.

While the report does not describe fees being charged for these edits on 4chan itself, it documents how ‘wizards’ direct users to less visible platforms to arrange financial transactions. This suggests a monetisation aspect to the abuse, with the ISD set to release further research capturing more than 100,000 posts related to nudification across 4chan and other platforms in a three-month period. The term ‘wizard’ also carries connotations within incel culture, where it can refer to a man who remains a virgin past the age of 30.

The report highlights the real-world impact of such digital violence, citing the case of German actor Collien Fernandes, who publicly accused her ex-husband, Christian Ulmen, of spreading pornographic deepfakes of herself. Ulmen’s attorneys have denied the allegations. Oehmig emphasised that the ecosystem is large and systematic, with the anonymising nature of 4chan complicating efforts to capture the full scale of the coordinated abuse.