Former Newschannel 5 meteorologist Brie Smith said the con man’s social media accounts, who claimed she began seeking personal information and money from fans last fall, have been “devastated.”
“These accounts used fake photos of me showing my face on someone else’s semi-nude body, and also made fake videos using my face and my name to help them convince me that I am,” Smith testified Wednesday before the Tennessee Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
Smith is now urging lawmakers to ban “deepfakes” on non-consensual basis – videos, photos and audio files created by artificial intelligence that depict things that did not occur without the consent of those portrayed.
Over the past few months, Smith has said dozens (if not hundreds, of con artists posing as her, posting about fake contests and direct messages, asking for help, promised sexual acts, and asking for money for staying in a hotel.
“I felt humiliated and scared,” Smith said. “I didn’t know what to do or how to fight that, and I didn’t know how to protect my audience and those who trust me online from being subjected to this kind of fear tor.”
bill What Nashville Democrat Jason Powell raised would have made it a felony to threaten to publish or publish a false eye image intended to damage or cause harm to a person’s reputation. If images are deemed likely to promote violence or interfere with government actions, the creators will face additional prisons.
The bill also allows victims to file civil suits against the creators of the deepfake and seek restriction or injunctions to prevent ongoing display of images and videos.
Smith left his nine-year job on News Channel 5 in January. The station told Tennessee in January I tried to negotiate They renewed Smith’s contract, but those negotiations were not successful.
The two 43-year-old mothers said they tried to report their accounts to various social media platforms without much success, but “it’s like a carriage.”
“As a civil servant, this has devastated the work of my life,” Smith said. “I was a central Tennessee meteorologist for nine years, and that’s not an attractive job. I did what I did because I believed I could help people.
The committee voted 7-0 on Wednesday to move the bill to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
