Washington, D.C. — Paris Hilton returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday to urge House lawmakers to pass the Defiance Act, legislation that would allow victims of deepfake pornography to sue those who create or distribute the content, calling the spread of AI-generated sexual abuse “an epidemic.”
Hilton, appearing alongside a bipartisan group of lawmakers, said her advocacy is rooted in personal experience. She recalled that at age 19, an intimate video of her was shared publicly without her consent, an incident she said was widely mischaracterized at the time. Hilton argued that the absence of legal protections then mirrors the gaps victims face today as artificial intelligence enables increasingly realistic sexualized deepfakes.
The Defiance Act, which cleared the Senate last week by unanimous consent, would create a civil right of action for individuals targeted by nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake content. It follows the Take It Down Act, passed last year, which made publishing such material a federal crime but did not provide victims with a direct path to seek damages in court.
Momentum for the bill comes as concerns grow over the proliferation of sexualized AI images online, including content generated through Elon Musk’s social media platform X. In response to criticism, X has restricted image-generation features involving real people and limited access to certain tools.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a lead sponsor of the bill alongside Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), said discussions with Speaker Mike Johnson have been “positive,” raising hopes for a House vote in the coming weeks.
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