Forty days after officially becoming the first lady of the United States for the second time, Melania Trump made her first political appearance. However, the position she took on March 3 in connection with a landmark American bill remained almost completely in the shadow of the crisis in relations between the United States and Ukraine, which also reflected on relations between the United States and Europe, writes BTA.
However, this does not make the topic on which the first lady of the United States decided to take a stand on March 3 less important. Melania Trump participated in a roundtable discussion in the US Congress, dedicated to a law criminalizing deepfakes with pornographic content, recall Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.
Deepfakes with pornographic content refer to fake pornographic footage and videos, often created with the help of artificial intelligence programs. Increasingly, this type of deepfakes depict celebrities.
At the roundtable discussion in Congress, Melania Trump sat next to victims of such pornographic deepfakes. She emphasized that today artificial intelligence is gaining increasing importance, but violations of intimate space with the help of artificial intelligence are also growing alarmingly. According to the first lady, in an era where digital interaction is an integral part of everyday life, it is important to protect children from all risks and abuse.
The legislative text, for which the first lady of the United States lobbied, was introduced by the Republican senator from Texas Ted Cruz, recall Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press. It aims to oblige social networks and Internet sites to implement procedures for removing fake pornographic content, in which the face of a real person is used without their consent, Agence France-Presse points out. If adopted, the law would make it a federal crime to publish or threaten to publish intimate images without the consent of the person appearing in them, and the scope of this crime would also include computer-generated images in which a specific person could be recognized. Social networks will have up to 48 hours to remove such footage after the victim has contacted them with such a request, the Associated Press reports.
The bill was already passed in February by the Senate. It is yet to be discussed and voted on in the House of Representatives. The main lobbyists in support of the bill, in addition to Ted Cruz, are Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, Florida Republican Representative Maria Salazar and her colleague, Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean, the Associated Press recalls.
In the US, individual states, such as Democratic-controlled California and Republican-controlled Florida, have already passed laws criminalizing the publication of sexually explicit deepfakes, recalls Agence France-Presse.
The increasing occurrence of such fake content, affecting real people, some of whom are famous, literally catches lawmakers off guard, comments Agence France-Presse.
According to a study published late last year in the US, 26 members of the US Congress have been victims of pornographic deepfakes created with the help of artificial intelligence, recalls Agence France-Presse. The study by the organization “American Sunline Project“ does not disclose the names of the members of Congress affected by this phenomenon, in order to “not encourage rummaging through the Internet in search of deepfakes related to them“, point out the American publication “Makeup“ and the French media “France 24“ . The study clarifies, however, that among the victims there are 25 female members of Congress and one congressman and that all of them were “involved” in over 35,000 cases of deepfake content.
The host of the roundtable in Congress on March 3 was Ted Cruz. He welcomed Melania Trump's commitment to the cause, emphasizing that she will play a critical role in pushing the bill through the lower house of the US Congress.
The bill was inspired by the story of a 14-year-old American girl who became a victim of a pornographic deepfake and, together with her mother, fought the social network “Snapchat“ for a whole year to remove these fake footage from there.
Mark Zuckerberg's technology giant “Meta“, which owns the social networks “Facebook“ and “Instagram“, stated during the roundtable in Congress that it supports the bill.
The roundtable with the participation of the US first lady was also attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson. He welcomed the bill, but never gave a specific timetable for its vote in the House, the Associated Press notes.
Although the bill is officially sponsored by two Democrats, the Democratic presence at the roundtable with Melania Trump was sparse. There was only one Democrat there, California House Representative Ro Hanna. This gave Melania Trump a chance to rebuke Democrats and tell them that she expected more from them on this issue. She urged them to forget about partisan divisions on an issue that concerns the online safety of American children.
During her first “term” As first lady of the United States, Melania Trump is focusing on a campaign encouraging young people in the United States to do their best and including online safety, the Associated Press recalls.
As for pornographic deepfakes targeting celebrities, their recent victim was the American pop superstar Taylor Swift, who is politically opposed to the Republicans, world agencies recall.
In Pakistan, MP Meena Majid found herself "embarrassed" in a deepfake video in which she hugs a Pakistani minister to whom she is not related. These shots caused moral damage to the legislator in a strongly conservative country dominated by Muslims, notes “France 24“ and Agence France-Presse.
Again in Pakistan, the information minister of the Punjab province, Azma Bukhari, also found herself "entrapped" in a fake deepfake porn and said she was shocked by what happened.
In Northern Ireland, MP Kara Hunter became a victim of a deepfake porn video in 2022. She learned about the video when unknown men began contacting her on her social media channels and making sexual innuendos, recalls „Politico“.
In the UK, several women in politics were "entrapped" in deepfake pornographic footage and videos. Among them were Angela Raynor, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel, points out „The Guardian“ and “Channel 4“.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has filed a lawsuit against a father and son who used her image in deepfake porn. She is seeking compensation of 100,000 euros from them, ANSA recalls. Last year, Meloni even testified via videoconference during one of the hearings in the case, which was heard in Sassari. At the time, the Prime Minister defined this type of deepfake porn as violence against women, ANSA recalls.
Last December, a deepfake appeared on social media showing Meloni kissing billionaire and technology magnate Elon Musk during a banquet at the Elysee Palace following the opening of the restored “Notre Dame“ cathedral in Paris, Italian media recall. The fake video was then shared on social media accounts of a number of reputable Italian media outlets, such as “Repubblica“ and “Stampa“, which however warned that it was a fake. And some of them, such as “Corriere della Sera“, explained thoroughly to their followers which details of the video show that it is a deepfake. Meloni did not comment on the fake footage at the time.