White House 'alarmed' over AI-generated images of Taylor Swift going viral, asks Congress to take legislative action

WASHINGTON, DC: The White House recently sounded the alarm over the proliferation of deepfakes and their potential to cause harm, using the recent incident surrounding AI-generated explicit images of Taylor Swift going viral as a cautionary tale.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the creation and distribution of the manipulated photos "alarming," saying more accountability is needed from social media platforms and lawmakers to protect privacy and combat gender-based violence, as reported by RadarOnline.

White House slams online circulation of 'alarming' AI-generated explicit images of Taylor Swift

On Friday, January 26, Jean-Pierre said the administration is "alarmed by the reports of the circulation of the false images" during her daily briefing and highlighted the disproportionate harm this type of abuse inflicts upon women and girls.

She added, "While social media companies make their own independent decisions about content management, we believe they have an important role to play in enforcing their own rules to prevent the spread of misinformation and non-consensual, intimate imagery of real people."

"Sadly, though, too often we know that lax enforcement disproportionately impacts women and girls who are the overwhelming targets of online harassment and abuse," expressed the White House Press Secretary. 

After Swift's fans reported and called out the explicit content, most platforms removed the images, but their creation and distribution raised questions about the potential for new technologies to enable harassment and abuse.

Notably, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on AI in October of 2023, covering areas like algorithmic discrimination, privacy, and democratic values. However, the technology’s rapid evolution may warrant further government intervention.

Internet reacts to White House's expression of alarm regarding Taylor Swift's AI-generated photos 

Following the White House's expression of alarm regarding the proliferation of explicit AI-generated images featuring Swift, reactions flooded social media platforms.

One remarked, "I wonder why this issue wasn’t important to people until it happened to Taylor. Should already have strict policies against these AI crimes."

Another stated, "They should make this illegal and put everyone that generates such pics for a long time in jail. It's immoral," and a person chimed in, "Legislate to criminalize the creation and distribution of fake abusive images online."

Echoing similar sentiments, someone else declared, "This is so important. Something needs to be done to regulate AI… it’s dangerous." 

"Hopefully there will be action taken not just words being said," expressed an individual. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.