Republicans and Democrats in Congress have identified a problem: Social media is being flooded with AI-generated pornography, often depicting real people who didn’t consent to their image being altered in sexualized ways.
Agreeing on what to do about that problem — in particular, when it involves President Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk and the touchy subject of regulating tech companies — is proving to be politically fraught.
“I know that my [Republican] colleagues are not pro-child sexual abuse material, or pro-nonconsensual sexual imagery,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, wrote in a statement to NOTUS. “But is criticizing Elon Musk tantamount to criticizing the President himself? This Republican Congress has entirely shirked its responsibility to be a co-equal branch of government.”