Taylor Swift has once again been the victim of AI. This time, the misuse of her image has been perpetrated by presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
In January this year, deepfake pornographic images of Taylor Swift circulated on social media platform X, accumulating 47 million views before they were removed, as reported by The New York Times. The incident prompted other female celebrities to speak out. It sparked calls to Congress from politicians to crack down on deep fake pornography and the misappropriation of images.
It’s ironic then that Swift has again found her image misused, this time by a politician and presidential candidate.
On August 18th, Donald Trump shared multiple AI-generated images of Swift to his Truth Social platform.
The images of Taylor Swift were accompanied by images of fans or “Swifties” showing their support for his campaign. He reposted them with the caption, “I accept!”
The image of Swift showed the singer dressed in red, white, and blue with an American flag hat—a reference to “Uncle Sam” with an American flag as the background. The message overlaid said, “Taylor, I want you to vote for Donald Trump.””
Another image depicting women wearing “Swifites for Trump” t-shirts said, “Swifties turning to Trump after Isis foiled Taylor Swift concert.”
The images were screenshots taken from right-wing accounts on (again) the social media platform X, which is owned by Elon Musk, who has endorsed Trump.
Days before, The Guardian reported that Donald Trump shared a fake AI-generated image of Kamala Harris holding a communist rally.
The use of social media to spread political information has been a hot topic during both Trump campaigns, and AI and deepfakes have only made the issue more fraught. The use of “Fake News” bots and social media platforms seemingly spiralled out of control during the 2016 election, sparking a crisis in media and politics.
Why Is Donald Trump Desperate For A Taylor Swift Endorsement?
Taylor Swift has not endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency. In 2020, during protests following the police murder of George Floyd, she condemned the then president over X: “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?” she wrote. “We will vote you out in November.”
Donald Trump has been concerned about Taylor Swift’s lack of support for the Republican party. Swift owns property in red-state Nashville, Tennessee, and is the girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Reasonably, they’d want both highly influential superstars’ support. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been forthcoming.
Can Taylor Swift Sue Donald Trump?
Swift fans and experts are calling for Swift, who has withheld comment, to sue Donald Trump.
“Swift could sue Trump and those who misappropriated her likeness by creating AI-generated images,” Neama Rahmani, president and founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Business Insider.
“Privacy torts protect people from having their name, image, or likeness used without permission. Manipulating it using AI doesn’t change things,” he said.
Swift could also take advantage of state laws around deepfake and AI imagery. In her home state of Tennesee, Gov. Bill Lee signed the ELVIS Act earlier this year. The bill updated the state’s Protection of Personal Rights law to protect artists from AI misuse. The bill, which covers using artists’ names, images, or likenesses, was extended to protect their voices.
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This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
