US First Lady Melania Trump on Monday threw her support behind a bill aimed at protecting Americans from deepfake revenge pornography, in her first solo public engagement since her husband returned to the White House.
Appearing in a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill, she sought to shine a spotlight on the Take It Down Act, which criminalizes the online publication of non-consensual sexual imagery that is often created using cheap and widely available artificial intelligence tools.
“In today’s AI-driven world, the threat of privacy breaches is alarming and high,” the first lady told the panel, sitting next to two teenage female victims of deepfake porn.
“It’s heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content,” she added.
The bill, introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, would require social media platforms and websites to have procedures in place to swiftly remove non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated pornography, upon notification from a victim.
Though it has passed a vote in the US Senate, the bill has yet to clear the House of Representatives.
While urging bipartisan support for the bill, Melania took a dig at Democrats for not prioritizing its passage.
“I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue,” she said.
“Surely as adults, we can prioritize American children ahead of partisan politics.”
An online boom in non-consensual deepfakes is currently outpacing efforts to regulate the technology around the world due to a proliferation of AI tools, including photo apps digitally undressing women.
