{"id":2290848,"date":"2024-07-08T21:28:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T01:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-launches-bipartisan-effort-against-explicit-ai-deepfakes-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-08T21:35:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T01:35:18","slug":"congress-launches-bipartisan-effort-against-explicit-ai-deepfakes-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-launches-bipartisan-effort-against-explicit-ai-deepfakes-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress launches bipartisan effort against explicit AI deepfakes &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-launches-bipartisan-effort-against-explicit-ai-deepfakes-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2290848&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A bipartisan group\u2063 of lawmakers has introduced legislation to\u2064 combat the distribution of nonconsensual, sexually \u200cexplicit deepfakes on various websites. These deepfakes\u2064 involve the use of artificial intelligence to create realistic and\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joy-reid-asks-for-proof-porn-is-in-high-school-libraries-here-it-is\/\" title=\"Joy Reid Asks For Proof Porn Is In High School Libraries. Here It Is.\">explicit depictions<\/a> of individuals without \u200ctheir consent, including children. Advocacy groups \u2064have been pushing\u2063 Congress to address this issue, with legislation proposed to hold parties \u200baccountable \u200dfor distributing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/deepfake-pornography-reveals-yet-another-risk-posed-by-artificial-intelligence\/\" title=\"Deepfake Pornography Reveals Yet Another Risk Posed By Artificial Intelligence\">deepfake pornography<\/a> and provide victims with the ability to seek financial settlement. Various bills have been put forward\u200c by\u2064 both \u2064Republicans and \u2062Democrats to address the issue, with a \u2063focus on criminalizing the distribution of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/will-the-taylor-swift-deepfake-scandal-force-congress-to-get-serious-about-ai-pornography\/\" title=\"Will Taylor Swift&#039;s Deepfake Scandal Prompt Congress to Address AI Porn\">nonconsensual pornography<\/a>\u2062 and \u2062creating federal civil remedies for victims. Some lawmakers are\u2063 concerned \u2062about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/another-massive-tech-company-announces-it-is-leaving-california\/\" title=\"Another Massive Tech Company Announces It Is Leaving California\">tech companies<\/a> using legal loopholes to avoid liability, particularly citing\u2064 Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. \u2062The push to address the proliferation of deepfakes comes as the\u2063 election approaches, highlighting the need for legislative action to\u200c combat \u2063this growing crisis.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">\n<div class=\"tdb-search-form-inner\"><input class=\"tdb-head-search-form-input\" placeholder=\" \" type=\"text\" value name=\"s\" autocomplete=\"off\"><button class=\"wpb_button wpb_btn-inverse btn tdb-head-search-form-btn\" title=\"Search\" type=\"submit\"><span>Search<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Inside Congress\u2019s bipartisan effort against sexually explicit AI deepfakes<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span> <a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/pmchugh\/\">Peter McHugh<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2024-07-08T20:51:57-04:00\">July 8, 2024 8:51 pm<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1697634\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A group of bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>lawmakers<\/a> has introduced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>legislation<\/a> aimed at combating the horde of websites distributing nonconsensual, sexually explicit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/deepfake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>deepfakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last few months, Republicans and Democrats have floated multiple bills that would hold parties accountable for the distribution of deepfake pornography, as well as give victims the ability to seek financial settlement.<\/p>\n<p>The term \u201cdeepfake\u201d refers to images or videos that depict individuals in false situations, often using artificial intelligence. In 2019, a <a href=\"https:\/\/regmedia.co.uk\/2019\/10\/08\/deepfake_report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>study<\/a> from Deeptrace Labs found that, of all deepfake videos, 96% were nonconsensual pornography. With the use of these websites, anyone can use generative AI to develop realistic and explicit depictions of another person without their consent, even children. What once required hundreds of images and computer editing skills to create now requires one or two photos and a cellphone.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, no federal laws stand in the way of these websites. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are now hundreds of apps that can make non-consensual, sexually explicit deep fakes right on your phone,\u201d Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/05\/26\/ai-deepfake-porn-congress-00158713\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told <\/a><em>Politico<\/em> in May. \u201cCongress needs to address this growing crisis as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For over a year, advocacy groups have pushed Congress to act against these malicious websites as numerous deepfakes have surfaced of prominent public figures such as Taylor Swift and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).<\/p>\n<p>Herself personally affected, Ocasio-Cortez worked with Durbin in spearheading the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durbin.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/defiance_act_of_2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>DEFIANCE Act<\/a>. This piece of legislation hopes to \u201cstop the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexually-explicit deepfakes\u201d by creating a \u201cfederal civil remedy\u201d for victims. Lawsuits would be \u201cenforceable against individuals who produced or possessed [deepfakes] with the intent to distribute\u201d them against the will of the depicted.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have taken a different yet complementary approach, focusing on the criminalization of these forgeries. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has introduced a pair of <a href=\"https:\/\/mace.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/congresswoman-nancy-mace-leads-charge-against-online-sexual-assault\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>bills<\/a> meant to increase fines for the distribution of nonconsensual pornography from $150,000 to $500,000.<\/p>\n<p>Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have proposed the bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.young.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/1-pager_TAKE-IT-DOWN-Act_6.18.2024-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>TAKE IT DOWN Act<\/a>, which would \u201ccriminalize the publication\u201d as well as the \u201cthreat to publish\u201d nonconsensual AI deepfakes. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3053236\/take-it-down-act-addresses-deepfake-pornography\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>bill<\/a> would also require all websites and social media to remove the content from their feed in an effort to minimize distribution.<\/p>\n<p>Some lawmakers, however, are worried that tech companies will refer to Section 230 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/104\/plaws\/publ104\/PLAW-104publ104.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Communications Decency Act<\/a> in search of a loophole. The section, passed in 1996, protects tech giants from any liability associated with the content of their users. Carrie Goldberg, an attorney known for representing many of Harvey Weinstein\u2019s accusers, has called for the dissolution of this section altogether, believing it to put the concerns of Big Tech over those of internet victims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe best way to handle so many harms that are happening on platforms is for the platforms to be themselves sharing in the costs and the liability,\u201d Goldberg <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/technology\/4752365-regulation-nonconsensual-explicit-deepfakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> the <em>Hill<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>As the election approaches, legislative mechanisms have seemingly creaked into a near standstill as many lawmakers hope to retain their seats. Durbin, when introducing the DEFIANCE Act to the Senate floor, saw it quickly shot down by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) despite her support for the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Lummis worried its language was too broad, potentially damaging online privacy and innovation while ultimately neglecting the victims.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Despite inevitable head-butting, overall support is overwhelming from both sides. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictims of nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes have waited too long for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kudlow-trump-was-a-brilliant-consequential-president\/\" title=\"Kudlow: Trump Was a \u2018Brilliant, Consequential\u2019 President\">federal legislation<\/a> to hold perpetrators accountable,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez <a href=\"https:\/\/ocasio-cortez.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/rep-ocasio-cortez-leads-bipartisan-bicameral-introduction-defiance-act-combat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a>. \u201cCongress needs to act to show victims that they won\u2019t be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1697634\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1697634\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation to combat the distribution of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. Both Republicans and Democrats have proposed bills to hold parties accountable for sharing deepfake pornography and provide victims with the ability to seek financial compensation. Deepfakes are images or videos created using artificial intelligence to depict individuals in false situations. The legislation aims to address the growing crisis of deepfake pornography, which can be created easily using generative AI technology. Advocacy groups have been urging Congress to take action against these malicious websites, as deepfakes have surfaced of prominent public figures. The DEFIANCE Act, spearheaded by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, seeks to stop the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes by creating a federal civil remedy for victims. Republicans have also introduced bills to increase fines for distributing nonconsensual pornography and criminalize the publication of deepfakes. Some lawmakers are concerned that tech companies may use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a loophole to avoid liability. Despite some disagreements, there is overwhelming support from both sides for legislation to hold perpetrators of deepfake pornography accountable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3195,"featured_media":2290849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Ted-Cruz-Amy-Klobuchar.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14505,34301,4402,18842,32076],"class_list":["post-2290848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ai","tag-bipartisan-effort","tag-congress","tag-deepfakes","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Ted-Cruz-Amy-Klobuchar.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2290848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2290849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2290848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2290848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2290848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}