WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) has joined bipartisan legislation to protect Americans from sexually-explicit “deepfake” forgeries of their image or likeness. The bipartisan Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 (DEFIANCE Act) would allow victims to sue perpetrators for up to $150,000. This focuses on fake visual depictions created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), or any other computer-generated or technological means to falsely appear to be authentic.

The volume of “deepfake” content available online is increasing exponentially as the technology used to create it has become more accessible to the public and produced without the consent of the person depicted. A 2019 study found that 96 percent of deepfake videos were nonconsensual pornography. The DEFIANCE Act is led by Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Josh Hawley (R-MO). Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is also a cosponsor.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically improve and transform our way of life, but also presents a spectrum of risks that could be harmful to the American public, some of which could have catastrophic effects,“ said Senator King. “The DEFIANCE Act will ensure that any American subject to AI-generated, sexually explicit content online can defend themselves and hold the people responsible accountable. In the ever-evolving world of technology and artificial intelligence, we must be able to protect ourselves from people with bad intentions.”

Extremely powerful frontier AI could be misused by foreign adversaries, terrorists, and less sophisticated bad actors to cause widespread harm to the American public and threaten U.S. national security. While Congress considers how to approach new technology developments, Congress must prioritize AI’s potential implications. New laws or regulations should protect America’s competitive edge and avoid discouraging innovation and discovery.

Senator King has been a leading voice in fighting threats from technology, having served as the Co-Chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission – which has had dozens of recommendations become law since its launch in 2019. As a member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees, Senator King has been a strong supporter of increased watermarking regulations. In a September 2023 open Intelligence hearing, King asked Dr. Yann LeCun – a New York University Professor of Computer Science and Data Science at New York University – about what is technologically feasible in terms of implementing watermarks (a small icon or caption) for users to discern between real and artificially created content. The FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act legislation includes a Senator King-led provision to evaluate technology, including applications, tools, and models, to detect and watermark generative artificial intelligence. Additionally, he recently had an exchange during a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, where he raised the question of what Congress and the private sector can do to combat fake and misinformation online.

A one-pager of the legislation can be found here.

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