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Paris Hilton and AOC Have Both Been Targeted by Sexual Deepfakes. Now They’ve Teamed Up to Push a Stalled Bill That Would Let Victims Take the Perpetrators to Court

Updated 6 days ago, August 11, 2026

The DEFIANCE Act cleared the Senate by unanimous consent in January. Seven months later, it still hasn’t come up for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jim Jordan.

Paris Hilton speaking at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in support of the DEFIANCE Act — Paris Hilton takes the mic at a bipartisan press conference on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026, rallying support for the DEFIANCE Act, which would create legal recourse for victims of nonconsensual deepfake pornography. Photo by Heather Diehl / Getty Images.

Politico reported that House Republicans don’t want to hand Ocasio-Cortez a legislative victory before November, when she’s up for reelection, and worry the bill “would look splashy on a potential 2028 presidential resume.”

Paris Hilton standing outside the U.S. Capitol building after a press conference supporting the DEFIANCE Act — Paris Hilton outside the U.S. Capitol on January 22, 2026, following a press conference in support of the DEFIANCE Act, which aims to give victims of nonconsensual deepfake pornography legal recourse. Photo by Heather Diehl / Getty Images.

“I don’t think that we should be emboldening child pornographers and helping abusers just because of some personal beef that they may have,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Paris Hilton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol in support of the DEFIANCE Act — Paris Hilton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez share a moment at a bipartisan press conference backing the DEFIANCE Act on Capitol Hill, January 22, 2026. Photo by Heather Diehl / Getty Images.

The holdup isn’t about support. The bill has 57 co-sponsors from both parties, backing from Speaker Mike Johnson, and public endorsements from Republican firebrands like Nancy Mace and Anna Paulina Luna. Prince Harry and Meghan signed on last week. Jordan’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Sabrina Javellana, who was 23 and working in Florida local politics when AI-generated nude images of her surfaced on 4chan, called the delay “petty.” “It feels like a slap in the face to the women and girls who have spoken so bravely to tell their stories,” she told The Independent.

Paris Hilton at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, supporting the DEFIANCE Act on January 22, 2026 — Paris Hilton steps up to a Capitol Hill press conference on January 22, 2026, lending her voice to the bipartisan push for the DEFIANCE Act. Photo by Heather Diehl / Getty Images.

Hilton has been blunter. “Every day the DEFIANCE Act isn’t put on the calendar in the House, more women and girls become victims without a meaningful path to justice,” she said. Around 99 percent of nonconsensual explicit deepfakes target women.

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