JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Taylor Swift is among the most recent, high-profile victims of pornographic deepfake images. AI-generated nude photos of the popstar circulated widely online and prompted social media platform X to temporarily block users from searching her name.
In June, the FBI warned of an uptick in children and non-consenting adults whose photos or videos were altered into explicit content. The images are typically taken from a victim's social media account, manipulated into sexual images that appear true-to-life in likeness to a victim and then circulated on social media, public forums or pornographic websites.
While these kinds of deepfake images aren't new, artificial intelligence has only made their creation easier and more prevalent.
Missouri State Rep. Adam Schwadron (R-St. Charles) took a step toward protecting future victims of unauthorized deepfakes Tuesday with his filing of House Bill 2573, also known as The Taylor Swift Act.
“These images can cause irrevocable emotional, financial and reputational harm,” Schwadron said in a statement. “The worst part is that women are disproportionately impacted by these deepfakes. These fake images can be just as crushing, harmful and destructive as the real thing. There’s already enough bad in this world, and as the father of two daughters, I want to ensure that no one should have to fear this kind of assault.”
HB 2573 allows victims of deepfakes to bring civil actions against them by specifying conditions for consent, according to a news release from the Missouri State House of Representatives. The bill also categorizes the criminal offenses as felonies based on intent.
Click here to read the full bill.
Victim resources
If you're a victim of unauthorized deepfake images, the FBI recommends you keep all information regarding the incident, such as usernames, email addresses and websites, and immediately report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, an FBI field office (1-800-CALL-FBI) or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (1-800-THE-LOST).
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children's free Take It Down service helps victims remove or stop the sharing of nude, partially nude or explicit content taken while under the age of 18. Click here to learn more.
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