Paris Hilton joins Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push DEFIANCE Act against AI deepfake abuse

Paris Hilton joins AOC in fight against AI porn

Why it matters: A surge in non-consensual sexualized images targeting women and children is fueling calls for stronger legal protections. Driving the news: DEFIANCE Act co-sponsors Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Laurel Lee (R-Ohio), Hilton and survivors of online sexual abuse drew a large crowd outside the Capitol at an event Thursday calling for the bill's passage. * Hilton has previously worked with lawmakers on child-welfare legislation, advocating for the bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act that was signed into law in 2024. What they're saying: Hilton recounted that when she was 19-years-old a private, intimate video of her was shared online without her consent: "People called it a scandal. It wasn't. It was abuse." * "They called me names, they laughed and made me the punch line. They sold my pain for clicks, and then they told me to be quiet, to move on, to even be grateful for the attention," Hilton said. * "This isn't about just technology. It's about power. It's about someone using someone's likeness to humiliate, silence and strip them of their dignity." Context: This issue isn't new or limited to any single AI company. But Elon Musk's Grok chatbot has drawn fresh scrutiny in recent weeks after generating sexualized images at users' request, sparking outcry and reviving a push to pass legislation. * The DEFIANCE Act passed by unanimous consent in the Senate earlier this month. * The bill would go beyond current law by addressing the production, distribution and solicitation of non-consensual sexual imagery and giving individuals the right to sue. * The TAKE IT DOWN Act, a deepfakes bill signed into law last year, will require platforms to remove CSAM and non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of being notified by the victim. "TAKE IT DOWN gave us removal and DEFIANCE will give us recourse and restitution," Ocasio-Cortez said. * "Women lose their jobs when they are targeted with this. Teenagers switch schools and children lose their lives. Congress has a moral obligation to stop this harm," said Ocasio-Cortez, who has been targeted herself. * Sexual Violence Prevention Association CEO Omny Miranda Martone said people "are really struggling to have any action taken" because district attorneys often don't feel it's a "big enough fish" to fry. Threat level: Around 23,000 sexualized images of children were generated during the 11 days after Grok launched its image-generating feature, according to new research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. * Earlier on Thursday, the White House hosted an AI roundtable with victims of sexual abuse to discuss AI harms and innovation, a source familiar said. What's next: Lee said she's "very optimistic" the House Judiciary Committee will take up the bill soon before a full House vote.

Paris Hilton joins the fight against sexually-explicit AI deepfakes

Socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton joined US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to advocate for legal protections for victims of AI deepfake porn. A sex tape released without her consent helped make Paris Hilton a household name in the early 2000s. The hotel heiress and businesswoman compared what happened to her then to the deepening artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake pornography crisis now targeting women and girls around the world. In recent weeks, global regulators have urgently addressed a growing wave of sexually-explicit deepfakes targeting women and minors without their consent, with Elon Musk's chatbot Grok at the centre of the backlash. Responding to user prompts, Grok generated hundreds of thousands of images that "undress" real women and, in some cases, girls. While xAI said it "implemented technological measures" to prevent the chatbot from editing these images, researchers found those safeguards could be bypassed. "Deepfake pornography has become an epidemic," Hilton told a crowd outside the US Capitol building on Thursday. "It's the newest form of victimisation happening at scale - to your daughters, your sisters, your friends, and neighbours." Hilton was 19 years old when a nude video of her spread like wildfire online, catapulting her to infamy in an era defined by predatory tabloids that exploited young women in the public eye. "People called it a scandal - it wasn't. It was abuse. There were no laws at the time to protect me, there weren't even words for what had been done to me," Hilton said, speaking publicly for the first time about the 2004 incident. "I lost control over my body, over my reputation. My sense of safety and self-worth was stolen from me, and I've fought hard to get those things back," she added. The 44-year-old said she now wants to use her story to help other young women and girls who are being exploited online by abusers using AI tools. That's why Hilton said she joined US congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Laurel Lee to advocate for the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act. The bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate last week and must now be brought before the House of Representatives, would give victims of AI-generated deepfakes a legal pathway to press charges against their abusers. "This isn't about just technology, it's about power," Hilton said. "It's about someone using someone's likeness to humiliate, silence and strip them of their dignity. But victims deserve more than after-the-fact apologies, we deserve justice." Hilton said that she has also been targeted by 100,000 sexualised AI deepfakes. "Not one of them is real, not one of them is consensual. And each time a new one appears, that horrible feeling returns, that fear that someone somewhere is looking at it right now and thinking it's real," she said. Reining in abusive AI tools The DEFIANCE Act comes on the heels of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which was signed into law in May 2025 as the first US federal law limiting the use of AI in ways that can be harmful to individuals. TAKE IT DOWN, which stands for "Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilising Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act," requires online platforms to remove unauthorised intimate images and deepfakes when notified. It comes into effect in May 2026. "TAKE IT DOWN gave us removal, and DEFIANCE will give us recourse and restitution," said Ocasio-Cortez, co-sponsor of the DEFIANCE Act. "Once the bill is signed into law, and it will be signed into law, survivors will have the ability to hold their abusers accountable and seek financial and reputational damage for the harm they have caused," she added. The bipartisan DEFIANCE Act would give survivors the right to sue individuals who knowingly produce, distribute, solicit, or receive nonconsensual sexually-explicit digital forgeries. It also targets those who possess the content with the intent to distribute. In Europe, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and AI Act offer some protection against deepfakes, by requiring platforms to label AI-generated content. Deepfake pornography is not explicitly addressed, leaving the enforcement up to individual member states. Countries such as France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have passed lawsprotecting victims from sexually-explicit deepfakes - targeting distributors of nonconsensual AI deepfakes with hefty fines and even prison sentences.

Paris Hilton gets candid on sex tape 'scandal' in Capitol Hill speech

Paris Hilton brought up her 'abuse' when she was 19. Now, she rallies against deepfake pornography and exploitation. The law was not on Paris Hilton's side when the unauthorized release of a sex tape haunted her early rise to fame. But she's hoping to change things for the next generation. The socialite and reality-TV personality, who in the early 2000s found controversy after a sexually explicit video of herself and an ex-boyfriend was released online, reflected on the experience during a speech on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 22. "When I was 19 years old, a private, intimate video of me was shared with the world without my consent," Hilton, 44, said. "People called it a scandal. It wasn't. It was abuse. There were no laws at the time to protect me. There weren't even words for what had been done to me. The internet was still new, and so was the cruelty that came with it." Hilton appeared alongside congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in support of the Defiance Act, a proposed law that targets deepfake content "depicting intimate activity or nudity." Deepfakes, which have risen to prominence with the emergence of artificial intelligence, can consist of video, images or audio that digitally manipulates a person's appearance, voice or actions. If legislated, the Defiance Act, which passed in the U.S. Senate last week after a 2024 version was stalled, would allow a person to file a civil action against anyone who's knowingly produced, distributed or solicited a deepfake without their consent or, similarly, obtained the image with the intent to distribute it, according to the official Senate Judiciary Committee website. Hilton, a mother of two, said the production of deepfakes isn't "about just technology, it's about power," explaining that the deceptive content can use "someone's likeness to humiliate, silence and strip them of their dignity." "Too many women are afraid to exist online, or sometimes, to exist at all, and I know how that feels because I've lived it," Hilton said. "And now, I have a daughter. She's just 2-and-a-half years old, and I would go to the ends of the Earth to protect her. But I can't protect her from this, not yet." Paris Hilton says she 'lost control over my body' with sex tape release Hilton's sex tape stemmed from an intimate video she made with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon in 2000, the media personality previously revealed in her book, "Paris: The Memoir." Despite being assured by Salomon that "no one else would ever see it," the tape resurfaced online a few years later with a 37-second clip of the video, which was followed by a full-length release. Hilton, who was readying the launch of her reality-TV career with "The Simple Life," alleged that Salomon, who was 12 years her senior, sold the sex tape for public release, despite her request not to. "They called me names. They laughed and made me the punchline," Hilton said during her speech on Capitol Hill. "They sold my pain for clicks, and then they told me to be quiet, to move on, to even be grateful for the attention." "These people didn't see me as a young woman who had been exploited," Hilton continued. "They didn't see the panic that I felt, the humiliation or the shame. No one asked me what I lost. I lost control over my body, over my reputation. My sense of safety and self-worth was stolen from me." Although it's been decades since the release of Hilton's sex tape, the media personality shared her concerns over deepfake pornography, which she described as "an epidemic." Hilton said that "over 100,000 explicit deepfake images" of her have been generated. "Not one of them is real. Not one of them is consensual," Hilton said. "And each time a new one appears, that horrible feeling returns, that fear that someone somewhere is looking at it right now and thinking it's real. "No amount of money or lawyers can stop [it] or protect me from more. It's the newest form of victimization happening at scale, to your daughters, your sisters, your friends and neighbors." Hilton said being vocal about her experiences has "helped me heal," adding that she's determined to advocate for women who don't have "the platform to reclaim" their image from the impact of deepfakes. "I am Paris Hilton: a woman, a wife, a mom, a survivor, and what was done to me was wrong," Hilton said. "And I will keep telling the truth to protect every woman, every girl, every survivor, now and for the future." Contributing: Natasha Lovato, USA TODAY

Paris Hilton calls for passage of Defiance Act: 'Deepfake pornography has become an epidemic'

Paris Hilton on Thursday called on the House to pass a bill that would give victims of deepfake pornography the right to sue individuals who produce and share the content, citing her own experience having intimate images shared without her consent. The former reality TV star, who has previously appeared on Capitol Hill to advocate for a youth welfare bill, returned to Washington to push for the passage of the Defiance Act. The measure cleared the Senate last week with unanimous support. "When I was 19 years old, a private intimate video of me was shared with the world without my consent," Hilton said, appearing alongside a bipartisan group of congresswomen, including the bill's lead sponsors, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.). "People called it a scandal. It wasn't. It was abuse," she continued. "There were no laws at the time to protect me. There weren't even words for what had been done to me. The internet was still new, and so was the cruelty that came with it." The Defiance Act would give victims a civil right of action to sue over deepfake pornography. It follows the passage of another deepfake bill last year, the Take It Down Act, which made it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes. The recent movement on the Defiance Act comes amid a surge in sexualized AI images on Elon Musk's X. The tech billionaire's AI chatbot Grok, which is integrated into the social media platform, has reportedly produced thousands of sexualized images of women and children over the past few weeks in response to user requests. X has since barred all users from using Grok to edit images of real people in revealing clothing, in addition to geoblocking users from generating such images in "jurisdictions where it's illegal." Image editing and generation tools are also now restricted to paid subscribers. "Today, what happened to me then is happening now to millions of women and girls in a new and more terrifying way," Hilton added Thursday. "Before someone had to betray your trust and steal something real. Now, all it takes is a computer and a stranger's imagination. Deepfake pornography has become an epidemic." Ocasio-Cortez said that lawmakers have had "positive and encouraging conversations" with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about getting the Defiance Act to a vote in the House "as quickly as possible."

Paris Hilton Champions Bipartisan AI Deepfake Legislation At The Capitol: 'Most Meaningful Work Of My Life'

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter On Thursday, Paris Hilton said her advocacy on Capitol Hill has become the most impactful chapter of her career as she backs bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting victims of AI-generated deepfake abuse. Hilton Backs Bipartisan DEFIANCE Act On Capitol Hill Hilton stood at the U.S. Capitol alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) to advocate for the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits or DEFIANCE Act, reported The Hill. The DEFIANCE Act is a bipartisan bill targeting nonconsensual deepfake pornography. "Coming here to the Capitol, to D.C., and doing my advocacy work -- it's truly been the most meaningful work of my life," Hilton told ITK. "I'm just happy to give support and I love that I can come and shine my spotlight on so many causes that are in need of it." The bill would allow victims of AI-generated explicit images to sue those who create or distribute the content. Supporters are urging House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to bring the measure to a floor vote after it passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Personal Experience Drives Hilton's Advocacy Hilton, 44, spoke about her own experience with nonconsensual intimate imagery. "When I was 19 years old, a private, intimate video of me was shared with the world without my consent," she said. "People called it a scandal. It wasn't -- it was abuse." Hilton said the lack of legal protections at the time left victims powerless, adding, "Too many women are afraid to exist online, or sometimes to exist at all." Grok Renews Focus On AI Deepfake Abuse The problem predates any single AI platform, but Elon Musk's Grok chatbot has come under renewed scrutiny this month after it generated sexualized images at users' requests, triggering public backlash and reigniting calls for tougher legislation. The DEFIANCE Act cleared the Senate earlier this month by unanimous consent, reported Axios. The measure would expand existing legal protections by targeting the creation, distribution and solicitation of nonconsensual sexual imagery, while granting victims a private right of action to sue. A separate deepfake measure, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law last year, requires online platforms to remove child sexual abuse material and nonconsensual intimate images within 48 hours of a victim's request. First Lady Melania Trump played a key role in advancing that legislation. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: Tinseltown on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs