After Taylor Swift became the latest victim of pornography generated by artificial intelligence, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee asked her to join with him in promoting a piece of legislation he plans to re-introduce next week.
Lee says he will reintroduce the PROTECT Act, which would “require pornography sites to verify the age of all participants in pornographic images; require sites to obtain verified consent forms from individuals uploading content and those appearing in uploaded content; and mandate that websites quickly remove images upon receiving notice they uploaded without consent,” a press release about the bill says.
Swift is reportedly “furious” about the AI images and is “considering legal action,” according to the Daily Mail.
“A source close to Swift said on Thursday: ‘Whether or not legal action will be taken is being decided but there is one thing that is clear: these fake AI generated images are abusive, offensive, exploitative, and done without Taylor’s consent and/or knowledge,’” the Daily Mail reported.
On X on Saturday, Lee said, “Hi @taylorswift13 and @treepaine, I have legislation to help get harmful deepfake images removed quickly, and create a way for people to sue companies that don’t take them down. I’m re-introducing the PROTECT Act next week. Would love your support!”
Victoria Galy, a survivor of “image-based sexual abuse,” said, “We desperately need a federal law to protect victims against online image-based sexual abuse including edited and deepfake content. The Protect Act would provide this protection. Similar laws have already been passed in other countries and the U.S. is falling behind,” according to Lee’s press release.