US rightwing conspiracy theory claims Taylor Swift is an ‘election psyop’ | First Thing

Far-right influencers claim singer is Pentagon asset' conspiring to manipulate' voters after rigged' Super Bowl favors Chiefs. Plus, documents show fossil fuel industry knew of climate danger as early as 1954

Good morning.

Taylor Swift is a Pentagon asset", an election interference psyop" who, with unnamed left-leaning forces, has conspired to rig" the Super Bowl and then endorse Joe Biden in the presidential election.

Why else is Swift in the news? A bipartisan group of US senators introduced a bill yesterday that would criminalize the spread of nonconsensual, sexualized images generated by artificial intelligence. The measure comes in direct response to the proliferation of pornographic AI-made images of Taylor Swift posted on X, formerly Twitter, in recent days.

Will social media platforms now start taking AI-generated porn seriously? Women who have been victims of the creation and sharing of nonconsensual deepfake pornography hope that this week's spotlight on the issue will force social media companies and legislators into action.

What has Netanyahu said? On Tuesday, he repeated his vow not to pull troops out of Gaza until total victory", a reminder of the huge gap in the public stances of the warring sides over what it would take to halt combat even temporarily.