SAG-AFTRA on Friday spoke out against pornographic AI images of Taylor Swift circulating on social media and reiterated its support for legislation that would outlaw such images.
The Actors Guild criticized the footage, calling it “upsetting, harmful and deeply disturbing.”
“The development and distribution of false images, especially those of an obscene nature, without someone’s consent must be made illegal,” the union said. “As a society, we have the power to control these technologies, but we must act now before it is too late.”
The performers’ union has been pursuing the issue for years, and has previously voiced support for state and federal laws that would make it illegal to distribute “deepfake” pornographic images that reproduce someone’s likeness without their permission.
The issue became a hot topic in Washington this week thanks to an image of Swift that circulated on X (formerly known as Twitter).
At Friday’s White House press conference, a reporter asked whether President Biden would support legislation to ban AI-generated pornographic images.
“This is an alarming situation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. She said: “We are alarmed by reports of the circulation of the images you have just described…Laws should, of course, be put in place to address this issue.”
Congressman Joe Morrell (New York) introduced the Intimate Image Deepfake Prevention Act last year. SAG-AFTRA Chairman Fran Drescher praised this at the time.
“Sexual abuse, whether physical or digital, should never be tolerated or tolerated as ‘personal expression’ and should never be tolerated.”
The union also endorsed the NO AI FRAUDS Act, a broader law that would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to distribute false replicas of real people without their consent, whether or not they are sexually explicit. is also supported.
AI was one of the key issues in last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike. The union obtained a contract clause that requires both consent and payment if it uses his AI to digitally replicate an actor’s performance, but the contract does not allow studios to blend performances to create “synthetic” actors. There was no prohibition on creating one.
“We stand with Taylor and other women everywhere who are victims of this type of theft of their privacy and autonomy,” the union said in a statement Friday.
