Deepfake porn images of Swift spark outrage and calls for new laws

WASHINGTON Fans of Taylor Swift and politicians, including those in the White House, expressed outrage on Jan 26 over fake porn images of the singer that were generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The images went viral on X and were still available on other social media platforms.

- 

One image of the US megastar was seen 47 million times on X, the former Twitter, before it was removed on Jan 25. According to US media, the post was live on the platform for around 17 hours.

"It is alarming," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about the images.

"Sadly, we know that lack of enforcement (by the tech platforms) disproportionately impacts women, and they also impact girls who are the overwhelming targets of online harassment," Ms Jean-Pierre added.

Deepfake porn images of celebrities are not new, but activists and regulators are worried that easy-to-use tools employing generative AI will create an uncontrollable flood of toxic or harmful content.

Non-celebrities are also victims, with increasing reports of young women and teens being harassed on social media with sexually explicit deepfakes that are more and more realistic and easy to manufacture.

The targeting of Swift, the second most-listened-to artiste in the world on Spotify (narrowly after Canadian rapper Drake), could shine a new light on the phenomenon with her legions of fans outraged at the development.

In 2023, Swift used her fame to urge her 280 million Instagram followers to vote.