Paris Hilton, Victim of Nude Video Leak, Champions DEFIANCE Act

Paris Hilton spoke on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 22, endorsing the DEFIANCE Act, which is spearheaded by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of Congress.

Hilton, 44, is advocating the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, or DEFIANCE Act. (Photo: Paris Hilton Facebook)

The bill would allow victims of AI-generated, sexually explicit deepfakes to take legal action against the creators and distributors of such content, Liza Esquibias reported for People.

Hilton reflected on the trauma of her sex tape being leaked in 2004 and described the fears faced by girls and women who could become victims of AI-generated pornography.

Hilton, 44, is advocating the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, or DEFIANCE Act, a year after she successfully campaigned to pass legislation that enacted protections for institutionalized youth.

“Coming back to the Capitol, I feel something new—strength,” Hilton said, standing alongside Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, who has played a leading role in championing the bill. Hilton also revealed that there are “over 100,000 explicit deepfake images” of her that have been “made by AI.”

She added that 12.5% of American girls have been victimized by AI deepfake pornography.

“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,” Hilton said.

“No amount of money or lawyers can stop it or protect me from more. It’s the newest form of victimization happening at scale—to your daughters, your sisters, your friends, and neighbors.”

She added: “When I was 19, a private, intimate video of me was shared with the world without my consent. 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. The internet was still new, and so was the cruelty that came with it.”