One in 6 Congresswomen Who Were Targeted by AI Made Public Sex Shows

More than a dozen members of Congress have been victims of sexual harassment — and most of those victims are women, according to a new study that highlights the widening gender gap in this technology and the growing risk of women’s political participation as well. other forms of social interaction.

The American Sunlight Project (ASP)a think tank that investigates disinformation and advocates for policies that promote democracy, released a statement on Wednesday that cited more than 35,000 confidential images (NCII) showing 26 members of Congress – 25 women and one man – who were recently found guilty of fraud. leaves. Many of the images were quickly removed when investigators shared their findings with concerned members of Congress.

“We have to think about this new environment and how the Internet has opened up a lot of these issues that are targeting women and marginalized communities,” said Nina Jankowicz, an online media expert and activist who founded The American Sunlight. Project and is the author of this study.

Inappropriate intimate images, also known colloquially as deep porn Even promoters like the formerit can be developed through generative AI or with Photographing the heads of major players. There is currently little policy to prevent its creation and spread.

ASP shared its initial findings with The 19th. The group gathered the information in part by creating a search engine that finds members of the 118th Congress by first and last name, and abbreviations or names, on 11 popular websites. Neither party nor community affected the likelihood of being victimized, although young people were the victims. The biggest factor was gender, with women members of Congress being 70 times more likely than men to be targeted.

The ASP has not released the names of the lawmakers featured in the photo, in an effort to avoid a whistleblower search. They contacted the offices of all those affected to warn them and offer resources for internet addiction and mental health treatment. The authors of the study also reported that shortly after, images targeting many members were removed or removed from the site – which they cannot explain. Researchers have noted that such removal does not prevent material from being distributed or re-installed. In some cases involving policy makers, the results pages remain on Google even though the content has been removed or removed completely.

“Elimination can be accidental. “Regardless of what led to these removals – whether it was ‘cease and desist’ letters, claims of infringement, or other links to websites that promote fake violence – it shows a huge difference in opportunity,” according to the study. members of Congress, cannot deny prompt response from those who develop and distribute AI-generated NCII if they request its removal.”

According to the study’s first findings, about 16 percent of all women currently serving in Congress — or about 1 in six women — have been victims of inappropriate AI images.

Jankowicz have been victims of online threats for its domestic and international work to eliminate disinformation. He also publicly stated that he had been victimized a lot – which he found out via Google Alert in 2023.

“You can be made to appear in disturbing, romantic places without your consent, and the videos, even if you say, follow the decision against the original image, – as I was – multiply on the Internet without control and without any kind of consequences for the people who develop or create deep porn,” he said. “This continues to be a threat to everyone in the public sphere, who participates in public discourse, especially for women and women of color.”

Sexual harassment can have devastating psychological effects on victims, which include everyday people who are neutral – including children. In the past year, there have been reports of high school girls being sexually assaulted in countries such as California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. School officials have had mixed responses, though The FBI has issued a new warning that sharing such images of children is prohibited.

The full impact of deepfakes on the public is still visible, though research it already shows that 41 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 29 have tested themselves to avoid cyberbullying.

“This is a serious threat to democracy and freedom of speech, if we have almost half of the people who will remain silent because they fear the persecution they will face,” said Sophie Maddocks, director of public research. Center for Media At Risk at the University of Pennsylvania.

There is no federal law that imposes criminal or misdemeanor penalties for someone who creates and distributes AI-generated intimate photos. About a dozen states have enacted laws in recent yearsalthough most involve civil, not criminal, penalties.

AI-generated heart images are also unlocked threat to national security by creating conditions of hypocrisy and national acceptance. This can have negative consequences for policymakers regardless of whether they are directly targeted.

“My hope here is that the members are pushed to take action when they realize not only that it affects American women, but that it affects them,” Jankowicz said. “It affects their friends. And this is happening because people are watching.”

Photo-based harassment is a particular risk for women running for office. Susanna Gibson lost her presidential bid after a Republican staffer shared pornographic videos of the Virginia Democrat and her husband with The Washington Post. In the months after his death, Gibson told The 19th what he heard girls who were discouraged from running for office for fear of intimate images that could be used to torture them. Gibson also founded a non-profit organization fighting sexual and graphic violence to accompany the political committee to help women who want to compete by refusing to violate their privacy.

Maddocks studied how women who speak out in public can face digital harassment.

“We have a long line, ‘women should be seen but not heard’ which makes me think Articles and research by Mary Beard on this idea that feminism is against public speaking. So when women speak in public, it’s like, ‘Okay. Time to embarrass them. Time to take them off. Time to bring them back home. Time to shame them into silence.’ And that silencing and shaming…

ASP is urging Congress to enact federal legislation. The Expect Fake Images and Unrelated Updates in 2024Also known as the DEFIANCE Act, it would allow people to sue anyone who creates, shares or receives such images. The Take It Down Act It would involve liability in such cases and require the technology companies to remove the details. Both bills passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but must face concerns about free speech and harmful definitions, which are technical barriers, in the House.

“It would be irresponsible of Congress to let this phase pass without paying for one of these things,” Jankowicz said. “It’s one of the ways that the harm of artificial intelligence is being felt by the real American people right now. It’s not going to be harmful in the future. It’s not something we have to think about.”

Without action, the White House said they cooperated with civil society to find solutions to sexual violence. But critics are not optimistic about Big Tech’s ability to self-regulate, given its history of being hurt by its platforms.

“It’s easy for criminals to do this, and the brand doesn’t just target any woman,” Jankowicz said. “It’s up to women everywhere to say, ‘If you take this step, if you raise your voice, these are the consequences you’ll have to deal with.’

If you have been exposed to pornography, a Cyber ​​Civil Rights Initiative they have a list of legal provisions.

This story was was originally published on The Markup and was reprinted under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives permission.