Paris Hilton Joins the Fight Against Sexually-Explicit AI Deepfakes
A sex tape released without her consent helped make Paris Hilton a household name in the early 2000s. The hotel heiress and businesswoman has drawn parallels between her past experiences and the current crisis of AI deepfake pornography, which disproportionately targets women and girls globally.
The Growing Concern of AI Deepfakes
In recent weeks, global regulators have been addressing a surge in sexually explicit deepfakes that exploit women and minors without their consent. At the center of this backlash is Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok, which has generated hundreds of thousands of images that undress real women and, in some cases, underage girls. Although xAI claims to have implemented technological measures to prevent such occurrences, researchers have found that these safeguards can be easily bypassed.
Hilton’s Personal Experience
Speaking at a rally outside the US Capitol, Hilton stated, “Deepfake pornography has become an epidemic. It’s the newest form of victimization happening at scale – to your daughters, your sisters, your friends, and neighbors.” At just 19, Hilton experienced a nude video of her being disseminated online, which propelled her into infamy during a time when predatory tabloids exploited young women in the public eye.
“People called it a scandal – it wasn’t. It was abuse. There were no laws at the time to protect me; there weren’t even words for what had been done to me,” she explained. “I lost control over my body, over my reputation. My sense of safety and self-worth was stolen from me, and I’ve fought hard to get those things back.”
Advocacy for Legislative Change
Now, Hilton aims to leverage her story to support other women and girls who are being exploited online through AI tools. She has joined US Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Laurel Lee to advocate for the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act. This bill, which recently passed unanimously in the Senate, aims to provide victims of AI-generated deepfakes a legal path to pursue charges against their abusers.
“This isn’t about just technology, it’s about power,” Hilton asserted. “It’s about someone using someone’s likeness to humiliate, silence, and strip them of their dignity. But victims deserve more than after-the-fact apologies; we deserve justice.”
Statistics and Impact
Hilton disclosed that she has been targeted by over 100,000 sexualized AI deepfakes, stating, “Not one of them is real, not one of them is consensual. And each time a new one appears, that horrible feeling returns, that fear that someone somewhere is looking at it right now and thinking it’s real.”
Legislative Progress
The DEFIANCE Act is poised to complement the TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law in May 2025, which was the first federal legislation in the US aimed at limiting the harmful use of AI. TAKE IT DOWN mandates online platforms to remove unauthorized intimate images and deepfakes upon notification, set to take effect in May 2026.
Ocasio-Cortez emphasized the significance of these legislative measures, stating, “TAKE IT DOWN gave us removal, and DEFIANCE will give us recourse and restitution. Once the bill is signed into law, survivors will have the ability to hold their abusers accountable and seek financial and reputational damage for the harm they have caused.”
International Perspectives
Meanwhile, in Europe, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and AI Act provide some level of protection against deepfakes by requiring platforms to label AI-generated content. However, deepfake pornography is not explicitly addressed, leaving enforcement up to individual member states. Countries like France, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have enacted laws to protect victims from sexually explicit deepfakes, imposing hefty fines and prison sentences on distributors of non-consensual AI deepfakes.
