Big Tech companies and the Biden Administration are teaming up to stamp out image-based sexual abuse. Last week, the White House announced that several leading players had made “voluntary commitments” to put a stop to the creation and dissemination of sexually explicit images, including AI-generated “deepfakes” – but X is not one of them.
The companies involved in the pledges include Aylo – which owns several of the largest pornography websites – Meta, TikTok, Microsoft, Bumble, Discord, Hugging Face, and Match Group. Conspicuous by its absence is X, which has been mired in deepfake controversy for months, with Elon Musk recently sharing AI-manipulated footage of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The announcement arrives ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act – and with exploitative content spiraling out of control, not before long.
Biden Announces Clampdown on Sexual Abuse
President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris on Thursday unveiled private sector commitments to quash image-based sexual abuse, which has reached epidemic proportions since the generative AI explosion heralded by ChatGPT’s emergence in 2022.
As part of its pledge to “take on gender-based violence wherever it occurs,” the White House announced that several leading tech companies had signed a list of principles aimed at combating image-based sexual abuse, NBC News reports.
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2024 👨💻
Lobbying efforts were spearheaded by three nonprofits – the digital rights groups Center for Democracy and Technology and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, operating in tandem with the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Tech Players Introduce Tools to Combat “Skyrocketing” Abuse
Acknowledging that abuse “has skyrocketed” in recent months, the Biden Administration hopes to tie leading developers of AI models and data providers to sweeping reform.
The principles tabled by the White House will implement “effective, prominent, and easy-to-use tools to prevent, identify, mitigate, and respond to” explicit content. As a part of this, they also stipulate that people will have control over how their likenesses and bodies are used – if at all.
The latest news represents part of a concerted effort on behalf of the federal government to eradicate image-based sexual abuse. In May, the Biden-Harris Administration issued a “Call to Action to Combat Image-Based Sexual Abuse,” while noting recent moves made by Meta and Google to this end.
Calls for Sexual Abuse Reform Go Unheeded by X
While a number of leading players in the tech space were quick to voice their support for the list of principles, including Meta and Microsoft, the Musk-helmed X cannot be counted among the suite of backers. As previously mentioned, where censorship is concerned, the social media site has frequently found itself in the headlines – for the wrong reasons.
In July, Musk faced stern criticism after sharing a “deepfake” video of Vice President Kamala Harris, in which the AI-edited Harris referred to herself as the “ultimate diversity hire” and a “deep state puppet.” In a trademark Musk move, refused to apologize, deciding instead to double down.
In January, meanwhile, fake sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift proliferated on the platform, leading to a ban in users searching for “Taylor Swift.” The singer has since gone on to endorse Harris in the upcoming US Presidential election, citing fears over AI.
With free speech and AI set to prove a key battleground for Harris and former President Donald Trump in the November election, Musk may live to rue his refusal to acquiesce to federal pressure for sexual abuse reform, having recently thrown his lot in with Trump.
