AI-Generated Pornography Isn’t Something to Shake Off; Taylor Swift and Other Survivors Deserve Justice

WASHINGTON, DC (January 26, 2024) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) called out X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and other deepfake sites for perpetuating the sexual abuse and exploitation of Taylor Swift through AI-generated sexually explicit images that have been circulated on those platforms.

“AI-generated sexual abuse is a growing threat and we are saddened that it has happened to Taylor Swift. X, Telegram, and other sites like Mr. Deepfakes and Celeb Jihad are responsible for perpetuating this horrific abuse. We are grateful that Ms. Swift is speaking out to confront this abuse, and we hope that she can receive justice for these crimes,” said Dawn Hawkins, CEO, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

“Congress must urgently work to protect all survivors of AI generated deepfake pornography by passing the PROTECT Act, which aims to compel tech platforms to implement stringent age and consent verification, significantly reducing the spread of child sexual abuse and image-based sexual abuse. The PROTECT Act fills a gap in existing law that allows pornography to be created, uploaded, and distributed online without the consent of the persons depicted in the material with little or no concern for consequences.

“As the Senate prepares to hear testimony from CEOs of X, Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and Discord over sexual exploitation on their platforms next Wednesday, we call on these platforms and others to aggressively confront how they can end sexual exploitation. And we call on Congress to act and hold these companies responsible.

“No one deserves to be exploited online, and there needs to be accountability in the law for platforms who perpetuate sexual abuse, and for survivors to receive justice,” Hawkins said.

About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) 
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.