Elon Musk is known for his controversial tweets, but his latest meme, making light of using AI for vulgar purposes, comes across as a direct attack on Taylor Swift. The pop star was recently subjected to disgusting deepfake p*rn images circulated online, sparking an important conversation on how this technology is used to harass and humiliate women. Musk’s meme diminishes this disturbing issue.
Is Elon Musk’s Latest Tweet Actually Funny or Just a Slap in Taylor Swift’s Face?
The meme, which Elon Musk captioned “B**bs just rock, it’s a fact” depicts a man looking admiringly at a woman labeled “b**bs” instead of another woman labeled “using AI for intelligent stuff.” This “joke” comes just weeks after private deepfake images of Taylor Swift were shared online without her consent.
Boobs just rock, it’s a fact pic.twitter.com/GVpny76bfS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2024
While free speech laws in the U.S. protect parody, deepfake p*rn is an entirely different matter. Parody is meant to mock public figures in exaggerated ways that most reasonable people would not mistake as real. Deepfake p*rn is designed to be as realistic as possible, making it difficult if not impossible to distinguish from the real person.
Spreading realistic but faked explicit videos without consent brings up huge ethical and legal questions that current laws are ill-equipped to handle. Yes, celebrities give up some privacy by being public figures, but that does not make nonconsensual deepfake p*rn okay.
Why Is Taylor Swift Under the Radar?
According to The Guardian, Swift has become an avatar for anxiety about female power. As a successful woman who doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles, Swift represents cultural values a lot of people do not resonate with.
As one of the most famous pop stars today, Swift seems to attract an unusual amount of criticism and conspiracies from a lot of people. Whatever the reason for it, Swift has been under the radar of hate and criticism for as long as she has started her career.
Her feud with Kanye and her songs about her ex-boyfriends brings up plenty of unwanted attention. Swift has been rising in her career, after all the hate, no matter what. The deepfake controversy was not addressed by Swift or her team.
What Steps Need to Be Taken to Protect People’s Likeness?
While Swift’s situation has drawn attention to this issue, deepfakes threaten everyone, famous or not. Legal protections could be strengthened to better balance free speech interests and address nonconsensual and abusive deepfakes.
Platforms like Twitter may opt to take more responsibility for limiting how their technology spreads this damaging content. Evolving standards could help clarify the legal gray areas around digitally manipulated videos and images.
Increased public advocacy may spur action against deepfakes’ chilling effect on privacy, safety, and free expression. While a lot can be done against the matter, to protect the privacy of celebrities and everyone else, no big measures have been taken yet. The privacy breach is much worse than ever.
