White House calls for legislation to stop Taylor Swift AI deepfakes

Legislation needs to be passed to protect people from fake sexual images generated by AI, the White House said this afternoon. The statement, from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, came in response to a question about the spread of fake sexualized photos of Taylor Swift on social media this week.

Jean-Pierre called the incident “alarming” and said it is among the AI ​​issues the Biden administration has been prioritizing.

“Of course Congress should take legislative action,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s how you address some of these issues.” He did not address any specific legislation the White House was supporting.

The images were spread on X in particular on Wednesday night, with one of them reaching 45 million views before being removed. The platform was slow to respond and the post remained active for approximately 17 hours. The images were then spread to smaller accounts and are still available on X.

Jean-Pierre said social media platforms “have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules” to prevent this type of material from spreading. “We know that lax law enforcement disproportionately affects women and also girls, unfortunately, who are the overwhelming targets of online harassment and abuse,” he said in a briefing with reporters.

The White House previously launched a task force to address online harassment, Jean-Pierre said. But it was clear that this was a piecemeal approach. “Obviously there should be legislation to address this issue,” he said.

Congress has spent years criticizing social media platforms for their moderation practices, but the body has so far been unable to reach an agreement and pass regulations in response. Support for Taylor Swift may be bipartisan, but it’s not clear it’s enough to craft an actual bill.