Paris Hilton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are taking on AI-generated deepfake porn.
The hotel heiress and businesswoman was at the Capitol on Thursday for a press conference with Democratic New York and Republican Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida to promote the Explicit False Images and Nonconsensual Editing Act (DEFIANCE Act).
The bill would create a civil right of action that would allow victims of AI-generated deepfake porn to sue the creators and distributors of those images.
“These images may be digital, but the harm to the victims is very real,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This targeting causes women to lose their jobs, teens to change schools, and children to lose their lives.”
Hilton spoke emotionally about having an intimate video of herself with him when she was 19 years old that was widely shared online.
“People said it was a scandal, but it wasn’t. It was abuse. There were no laws to protect me at the time,” Hilton said. “I couldn’t even put into words what was being done to me. The internet was new and so were the atrocities that came with it.”
“What happened to me then is happening to millions of women and girls today in new and more frightening ways,” Hilton added.
Elon Musk’s X and the AI chatbot Grok were not mentioned by name at the press conference, but the move to pass the bill comes after AI agents on X began generating sexually explicit images of people, including minors, in response to instructions from users. The AI images have caused widespread concern, and some countries have banned the use of Grok.
X has since stopped producing sexual images of real people when the Grok account is tagged on the social network. However, you can still do so using the app. “Those who use Grok to create illegal content will suffer the same consequences as those who upload illegal content,” said X owner Elon Musk.
“AI is exploding to generate explicit images of children,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote earlier this month in response to reports about images generated by Grok. “And it’s not just actresses. Across the country, more and more teenage girls are becoming victims of deepfake harassment. Congress must step in and pass my DEFIANCE Act so victims can seek justice.”
Social media companies have largely been shielded from legal liability for illegal content shared on their platforms thanks to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a provision that has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats over the past decade.
The Insurrection Act passed the Senate by popular vote last week, meaning no senators opposed it. It remains unclear when the bill will be voted on in the House of Lords, but Speaker Mike Johnson recently told The Independent: “I’m definitely in favor of it.”
In May, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, which includes provisions requiring platforms to remove AI-generated revenge porn. This provision will not fully take effect until May 2026.
This is not the first time Hilton has come to the Capitol to advocate for legislation.
She traveled to Washington in both 2021 and 2023 to push for legislation aimed at combating abuse in residential facilities for troubled teens.
