Pop superstar Taylor Swift may sing about how she will “Shake It Off,” but that may not be how she responds after former President Donald Trump recently shared to social media an AI-generated image of her endorsing him in the upcoming presidential election, along with other images of “Swifties for Trump.”
In the image, Swift was dressed like Uncle Sam in the famous World War I recruiting poster with the caption, “Taylor Swift Wants You To Vote For Donald Trump.”
Trump’s post was captioned, “I accept!”
The pop singer/songwriter, who is currently on tour in Europe, has yet to endorse any presidential candidate in this election cycle, but in 2020 backed President Joe Biden.
Can She Sue?
Though it is unclear—and even unlikely—whether the Trump campaign created the image, the fact that it was employed by Trump in a social media post could land in the former president in more legal hot water.
“The news that former President Donald Trump recently posted AI-generated images, including a false endorsement from Taylor Swift, emphasizes the growing need for better regulation when it comes to tackling AI misuse and its repercussions. This becomes even more pressing when you consider how quickly the technology has advanced for creating media, including deepfake images, artwork, music, mimicking voice audio, etc.,” suggested Alon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of Copyleaks, an AI-based text analysis platform.
With any new regulations coming later than sooner, the question is still whether there are legal grounds for Ms. Swift to sue the former president.
“The Lanham Act—which Congress adopted quite some time ago—protects celebrity ‘brands’ and gives celebrities a cause of action against people or corps that try to use the celebrity’s likeness to mislead consumers,” explained Pace University Law Professor Leslie Garfield Tenzer.
“Admittedly voters are not necessarily consumers in this context—being asked to vote—but I think an analogy could be made,” Garfield Tenzer added.
Should a lawsuit be brought, the odds are likely stacked against the pop singer, and the former president already has an army-sized legal team dealing with numerous other cases. Instead, the smart play may be for Swift to issue a legal threat that falls short of outright litigation.
“Certainly she could probably order a cease-and-desist here and sue for misappropriation of likeness,” Garfield Tenzer continued.
Legislation Still Years Away
We are now seeing the latest example of technology outpacing legislation to enforce its proper use, and it could take time for lawmakers to catch up.
“There are benefits to these advancements in the technology, but those advancements only underscore why it’s even mo more pressing for stronger regulations to be put in place,” said Yamin. “The more sophisticated the technology gets, the more we need safeguards that encourage innovation but help mitigate the abuse of the technology. Without these guardrails, the risk of AI spreading misinformation and eroding trust in public figures and institutions will continue to be more common.”
As we head into the election, it is possible we could see more celebrities, groups, or others falsely “endorsing” a candidate.
“Until federal regulations are rolled out and enacted that offer protections, which could take another year or two, the legal and PR teams of celebrities and other public figures will be the ones responsible for working overtime to mitigate any potential reputation damage before the misinformation spreads too rapidly across the Internet,” added Yamin.
It may also take a mix of technology and social media users not to be so willing to believe everything they see as fact to combat the spread of this form of misinformation.
“Some legal and PR teams of public figures have begun utilizing AI detectors and similar tools to help them be more proactive in identifying AI-generated content, such as mimicked audio, deepfake images, false quotes, etc., so they can address it before it becomes more public,” Yamin suggested. “Additionally, it will be the responsibility of the news and media cycles to accurately and prominently report when such misuse has occurred to help keep the public adequately informed and to help mitigate any potential damage to the person or persons unfairly misrepresented by a deepfake or the like.”
In the meantime, Taylor Swift may need to take this issue head-on, publicly announce where she stands, even who she is endorsing—and maybe then, just “Shake It Off.”
