“Taylor Swift’s deepfake videos prompt EU to take AI regulation seriously – POLITICO”
The issue has taken on greater urgency after fake AI-generated graphic images of Swift were seen more than 45 million times in January on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). United States lawmakers issued new calls for legislation, and the incident sparked alarm in the White House.
“The latest disgusting way of humiliating women is by sharing intimate images generated by AI in a couple of minutes by anybody. Such pictures can do huge harm, not only to popstars but to every woman who would have to prove at work or at home that it was a deepfake,” European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová told POLITICO.
Victims of explicit deepfakes in Europe currently have to rely on a patchwork of laws like the EU’s privacy bill, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and national laws on defamation. Large social media platforms like X and Meta must make it easier for people and police to report potentially illegal content — and swiftly (no pun intended) take it down when it’s the case — as part of the EU’s content-moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The Commission proposed a pioneering law in 2022, at the height of the #MeToo movement, that would compel EU countries to do more to punish online abuse against women. The rules set definitions of crimes from forced marriage and female genital mutilation to cyberstalking. They also recommend minimum prison terms, such as at least a year of incarceration for cyberviolence.
“Our commitment to safeguarding the dignity and rights of women and girls in Europe has led to the criminalization of various forms of cyberviolence, such as the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, including deepfakes, cyberstalking, cyberharassment, misogynistic hate speech, and cyber-flashing,” said European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli.
The final deal also makes it a criminal offense to send unsolicited pictures of sexually explicit material, like genitalia. A draft proposal to criminalize nonconsensual sex across the bloc was, however, killed because of staunch opposition from EU countries.