This week, the world-famous pop star became the latest victim of deepfake pornography after AI-generated images of Taylor Swift were shared tens of millions of times on social media platforms. As a result, "deep forgery" has returned to the attention of lawmakers, and members of the U.S. Congress and even the White House have now expressed their views on the matter.
Explicit images of 34-year-old female singer Taylor Swift were shared to Channel But that didn't stop the spread of the images, as they continue to go viral and are said to have been viewed more than 40 million times.
In response to this incident, X has been actively deleting these images and banning searches for TaylorSwift on the platform in an attempt to curb its spread. "We are monitoring the situation closely to ensure any further violations are dealt with immediately and the content in question is removed," the company said in a statement.
But moderation on the platform may not be enough. Now, members of Congress and even the White House are weighing in on the issue. U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle said AI-fabricated images can cause irreparable emotional, financial and reputational harm - and unfortunately, women are disproportionately affected."
Democratic Representative Yvette Clark said: "Taylor Swift's experience is not new. For years, women have been the target of deepfakes [without] their consent. As artificial intelligence advances, it has become easier and cheaper to create deepfake news."
Taylor Swift’s experience is nothing new. Women have been targeted for years with deepfakes without their consent. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, it has become easier and cheaper to create deep fake news.
This is an issue that both parties and even Swifties should be able to address together.
— Yvette D. Clark (@RepYvetteClarke) January 25, 2024
As Rep. Clark said, this is not a new problem. But with such a high-profile goal, the issue has become a focus of public discussion and may now be the target of future legislation.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the images "shocking" and said in a statement: "While social media companies make their own independent decisions regarding content moderation, we believe they have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent the spread of misinformation and non-consensual, intimate images of real people."
In the UK, explicit deepfakes will be illegal under the Cybersecurity Act in October 2023. PornHub, a major online adult media provider, has banned the publication of AI-generated fake news on its platform since 2018.
Ms Swift has yet to comment publicly on the incident.
Whether or not this latest high-profile incident leads to legislative reform, AI content is clearly already causing problems for law makers. Just this week, we reported on the first known incident of AI-generated information being used to suppress voter turnout, when a fake President Biden called New Hampshire residents urging them not to vote.