Musician Taylor Swift's morphed and explicit images have been doing the rounds on social media this week, calling for an urgent crackdown on the misuse of artificial intelligence. An X (Twitter) user first posted the images, attracting 47 million views before the account was suspended after 17 hours on January 25. Despite the social media platform's efforts to control the situation by suspending most accounts that have reshared the images, some of the photos continue to be out there.
The rapid advancement of technology is a double-edged sword that has been exploited to defame several celebrities, particularly women, in the recent past. In a decisive move, a bipartisan group of US senators, including Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Amy Klobuchar, and Josh Hawley, introduced the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024. Popularly known as the "Defiance Act," this legislation aims to criminalize the dissemination of nonconsensual, sexualized images produced through artificial intelligence.
Swift Response to AI-Generated Deepfakes
The impetus behind this legislative initiative stems from a recent surge in AI-generated pornographic images featuring Taylor Swift on X, formerly Twitter. Despite their artificial origin, these images, circulating widely on social media, have prompted real and tangible harm to the victims.
Durbin, the US Senate majority whip, emphasized the gravity of the situation in a press release, stating, "This month, fake, sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift that were generated by artificial intelligence swept across social media platforms. Although the imagery may be fake, the harm to the victims from the distribution of sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ is very real."
The Defiance Act in Action
The proposed legislation introduces a mechanism allowing victims portrayed in digitally manipulated, explicit images to seek civil penalties. Specifically, individuals who produced or possessed such forgeries with the intent to distribute them, as well as those knowingly receiving such material, would be subject to legal consequences.
Hawley, one of the driving forces behind the bill, emphasized the importance of protecting individuals from AI pornography, stating, "Nobody – neither celebrities nor ordinary Americans – should ever have to find themselves featured in AI pornography. Innocent people have a right to defend their reputations and hold perpetrators accountable in court. This bill will make that a reality."
Why 'Protect Taylor Swift' Is Trending?
Taylor Swift was subjected to deep-fake victimisation this week as fake sexually graphic images of her were posted on X (Twitter). Fans were quick to suppress the virality of these images by sharing the now trending phrase 'Protect Taylor Swift' on their social media. However, most of the images had already been widely shared.
According to The New York Times, a cybersecurity firm determined that the images were most likely created using a 'diffusion model', which is an A.I.-driven technology accessible through more than 100,000 apps and publicly available models. Ben Colman, co-founder and chief executive of the company, Reality Defender gave this information to NYT.
Hollywood lawmakers drove X to take down most of the accounts that posted and reshared these images and called for stricter action to protect women's safety online. X now shows an error message when users look up Taylor Swift on the platform. It is unclear how long this interruption would occur.
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Global technological experts and leaders have taken notice of the rising concern of AI misuse and spoke up in Taylor Swift's case. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview with NBC Nightly, "First of all, absolutely, this is alarming and terrible. And therefore, we have to act, and quite frankly, all of us in the tech platform, irrespective of what your standing on any particular issue is, I think we all benefit when the online world is a safe world.”
Meanwhile, policymakers also called for action. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also called the incident 'alarming' and said, "Congress should take legislative action. That’s how you deal with some of these issues. There should be legislation, obviously, to deal with this issue,” the Verge quoted her as saying.
US politician Rep. Morelle, who last year proposed the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act—making it illegal to share deepfake pornography without consent—also spoke up. The BBC quoted him as saying, "Deepfakes can cause irrevocable emotional, financial, and reputational harm, and unfortunately, women are disproportionately impacted.".
BBC reported that Congressman Tom Kean Jr. agreed, saying that it is "clear that AI technology is advancing faster than the necessary guardrails. Whether the victim is Taylor Swift or any young person across our country, we need to establish safeguards to combat this alarming trend."
Rising Crises Of Misused Tech
As Moralle pointed out, women on social media are worse impacted by the harms of technology. Even in India, several female celebrities, including Rashmika Mandanna, Nora Fatehi, Katrina Kaif, and many others, have faced similar issues with deepfakes. Recently, the perpetrator behind Mandanna's deepfakes was apprehended, yet the morphed images continue to be shared.
Most women with power and fame have faced online harassment, sexual exploitation, and bullying. These fabricated images and information cause danger to their safety and careers. However, the consequences of sharing these images are murky. While the person who first morphed and shared the images might get held, the images seldom leave the internet.
Moreover, such defamation leaves a deep psychological scar, which often gets overlooked in the case of celebrities. Several X users pointed out how widely acclaimed artists like Taylor Swift also need to be protected from online exploitation regardless of their wealth and social status. It is saddening that this had to be iterated instead of being a known fact.
As so many cases of technological misuse keep coming to light lately, it is high time social media platforms review their community guidelines and take stricter action to filter out perpetrators of online abuse. Whether it is a layman or a celebrity, every woman, every person, and every child deserves to feel safe on the Internet.
Views expressed by the author are their own
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