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This research is located at the intersection of communication, memetics, and the study of the imaginary. As a presupposition, we put forward the existence of a communicational imaginary, in which the contemporary person functions through their competencies in social networks, by meeting the demands of the public and the private, managing the obsessiveness of the sharing of intimacy and the exorbitant number of images. Considering memes as a significant aspect of this communicational imaginary, we seek to understand the dynamics and path of memes in the midst of this plethora of images. From the concept of iconophagy, we deal with the exacerbated multiplication of the images and the path of memes starting from a marginalized environment until it is integrated into social roles and a rational level of thought. Thus, it is the general objective of this research to understand the dynamics and the path of memes amidst the plethora of images in the context of communicational imagery and to investigate the multiplication of memes as representative of the myriad images in contemporary imagery.

Deepfake information poses more ethical risks than traditional disinformation in terms of fraud, slander, rumors and other malicious uses. However, owing to its high entertainment value, deepfake information with ethical risks has become popular. This study aims to understand the role of ethics and entertainment in the acceptance and regulation of deepfake information.

Mixed methods were used to qualitatively identify ethical concerns and quantitatively evaluate the influence of ethical concerns and perceived enjoyment on the ethical acceptability and social acceptance of deepfake information.

The authors confirmed that informed consent, privacy protection, traceability and non-deception had a significantly positive impact on ethical acceptability and indirectly influenced social acceptance, with privacy protection being the most sensitive. Perceived enjoyment impacts the social acceptance of deepfake information and significantly weakens the effect of ethical acceptability on social acceptance.

The ethical concerns affecting acceptance behavior identified in this study provide an entry point for the ethical regulation of deepfake information. The weakening effect of perceived enjoyment on ethics serves as a wake-up call for regulators to guard against pan-entertainment deepfake information.