Oklahoma’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would make AI-generated revenge pornography a misdemeanour offence. It passed through 90-0 and is heading to the state Senate for additional consideration.
Oklahoma is now on the path to joining states like California, Florida and Georgia in outlawing malicious artificial intelligence-made deepfake pornography.
Sharing explicit sexual images or video content of people without their consent has been illegal in Oklahoma since 2016, but the emergence of AI technology has made additional considerations necessary. Just because it’s not real doesn’t mean people won’t be charged for its dissemination.
“Artificial intelligence continues to reshape the landscape of both innovation and privacy and it’s critical that our laws evolve to protect our citizens from potential harm,” Oklahoma State Representative Toni Hasenbeck said. “House Bill 1364 directly addresses the harm that can arise from this technology by recognizing that AI-generated revenge porn, while fake, is nonetheless a very real violation of a person’s dignity and privacy.”
It upset the Swifties in 2024
Music icon Taylor Swift is one of the most well-known victims of this phenomenon. Early last year, a series of sexually explicit fake images depicting the pop star circulated on multiple social media platforms. One of them was viewed over 47 million times on X before it was removed.
More than 80,000 Swifties were quick to share posts with hashtags like #ProtectTaylorSwift following the spread of the digitally manufactured AI-tailored nudes. American actress Scarlett Johansson was one of the earlier deepfake porn victims before artificial intelligence became a greater focus.
A 2023 study from the Netherlands-based deepfake detection company Sensity AI found that over 90 per cent of deepfake videos that have been created since 2018 were centred around non-consensual pornography.
Read more: Bowdoin College gets largest donation in history to launch AI research initiative
Read more: ChatGPT coughs up false murder accusations, Norwegian government notified
Melania Trump joins the fight
The American First Lady has recently been advocating for the “Take it Down Act.” The legislation was introduced by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz last year.
“It’s heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deepfakes,” Trump said at a roundtable discussion regarding the pending regulations in Washington D.C. this month.
This federal online safety bill aims to strengthen protections against the spread of non-consensual sexual images, including AI-generated revenge porn.
It is intended to create a national uniform standard for how these crimes are prosecuted. The bill has been approved by the Senate and currently awaits assent in the House.
“The shocking growth in online sexual exploitation and blackmailing requires a national response,” Senator Ted Budd said in June.
First Lady Melania Trump is here on Capitol Hill to join a roundtable about @SenTedCruz’s legislation aimed at protecting Americans from deepfake revenge pornography. pic.twitter.com/K9kqL6JqQB
— Reena Jade Diamante (@reenajade) March 3, 2025
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