I think how convincing a piece of media may be is at the crux of this issue. Photoshopped heads of celebrities on porn actors' bodies have been around for some time now and isn't, to my knowledge, illegal. The key difference here is that people hold video to be more trustworthy. Given the advancements in CG and now more recently with deep fakes, perhaps that's what needs to change; People should stop trusting video footage.
Photoshopped heads of celebrities on porn actors' bodies have been around for some time now and isn't, to my knowledge, illegal
They have been, since inception, illegal, in the sense that they represent a tortious act. They might be illegal in the criminal sense, depending on the jurisdiction, even in the US if absent meaningful context bringing the fake under the protection of the First Amendment as a form of speech.
I agree, since the every day person's idea of what is possible is entirely cultural and that will change and advance, although it doesn't necessarily need to be illegal for it to be pushed out to the seedier parts of the internet and off of the more public platforms where influence is easier to gain.
