Paris Hilton Returns to Capitol Hill to Push for Stronger Laws Against AI Deepfake Porn

Paris Hilton is once again using her voice on Capitol Hill—this time to fight the growing threat of AI-generated deepfake pornography.

On Thursday, Jan. 22, the 44-year-old spoke in support of the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, known as the DEFIANCE Act, which would give victims the right to sue people who create or distribute sexually explicit AI deepfakes without consent. She appeared alongside Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading advocate for the bill.

Hilton opened her remarks by reflecting on her own past trauma. At 19, a private and intimate video of her was shared publicly without her consent. At the time, she said, there were no laws to protect her and little understanding of the harm caused by such exploitation.

“People called it a scandal,” Hilton said. “It wasn’t. It was abuse.”

She described being mocked, shamed, and turned into a punchline, while others profited from her pain. The experience, she explained, took away her sense of safety, self-worth, and control over her own body and reputation.

Although Hilton worked for years to rebuild her life, she said the rise of artificial intelligence has reopened old wounds. Today, creating fake explicit images no longer requires stolen footage—just a computer and imagination.

“Deepfake pornography has become an epidemic,” she said.

Hilton revealed that more than 100,000 explicit deepfake images falsely depicting her have been created using AI. None of them, she stressed, are real or consensual.

“Each time a new one appears, that horrible feeling returns,” she said, explaining that even money and legal teams cannot fully stop the spread.

The DEFIANCE Act aims to change that by allowing victims to take legal action against those responsible for creating and sharing AI-generated sexual content without consent.

Hilton also highlighted the wider impact of the issue, citing estimates that one in eight girls experience harm from deepfake pornography. She warned that many women are now afraid to exist online—or even in public—because of the threat.

Now a mother to a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Hilton said the issue has become even more personal.

“I would go to the ends of the earth to protect her,” she said. “But I can’t protect her from this—not yet.”

Hilton emphasized that the problem goes beyond technology. In her words, it is about power—using someone’s likeness to humiliate, silence, and strip away dignity. She argued that victims deserve justice, not just apologies after the damage is done.

She also acknowledged her own privilege in being heard.

“I had the platform to reclaim my story,” she said. “So many others don’t.”

Hilton was supported at the event by her husband, Carter Reum. She also referenced the original 2004 video leak involving her former boyfriend Rick Salomon, noting how that experience continues to shape her advocacy today.

She ended her speech with a clear and powerful message.

“I am a woman, a wife, a mom, and a survivor,” Hilton said. “What was done to me was wrong. And I will keep telling the truth to protect every woman, every girl, every survivor—now and in the future.”