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A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would let victims of nonconsensual, sexually-explicit deepfake images and videos go after the creators.
The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act would create a "federal civil remedy" for deepfake victims. It covers "digital forgeries that depict the victim in the nude, or engaged in sexually-explicit conduct or sexual scenarios" created via software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other computer-generated or technological means.
If passed, the bill would apply to "individuals who produced or possessed the forgery, if the individual knew or recklessly disregarded that the victim did not consent to the conduct."
The bill comes after a number of sexually explicit AI-generated images of Taylor Swift circulated on X last week, prompting the site to temporarily block searches of her name until things could be cleaned up. Not everyone has Swift's authority or resources, however, meaning many victims struggle to get deepfake content taken offline.
DEFIANCE Act sponsors include Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Amy Klobucher (D-MN), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
"Although the imagery may be fake, the harm to the victims from the distribution of sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ is very real. Victims have lost their jobs, and they may suffer ongoing depression or anxiety," Sen. Durbin said in a statement.
Durbin is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing today with the CEOs of the top social media companies about online child safety. It mostly consisted of senators quizzing the CEOs on whether they support various pieces of legislation and those senators not actually letting the CEOs respond. Sen. Hawley got Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologize to parents whose children were hurt or died through their social media activity. But it largely devolved into senators berating the witnesses, with little of substance actually discussed.