On January 18, 2024, Taylor Swift was spotted at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. However, when social media users searched for Taylor Swift's name on X (formerly Twitter) on January 27, they encountered an unexpected error message stating, "Something went wrong. Try reloading. " At the time of this writing, Taylor Swift's official X account was still accessible. Billboard has reached out to X's representatives for comment. This search issue on X occurred shortly after sexually explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift started circulating online. A post featuring these photos was shared on X on January 25 and garnered 47 million views before the account was eventually suspended the next day. X has since shut down multiple accounts that shared the fake images, but they have continued to spread on other social media platforms.

The hashtag "Protect Taylor Swift" began trending on X. The White House responded to this scandal by calling for legislation to protect victims of online harassment. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the incident as "alarming" and emphasized the Biden administration's focus on addressing the negative impacts of AI. Jean-Pierre stated, "Of course, Congress should take legislative action. That's how you deal with some of these issues. " She also highlighted the importance of social media companies enforcing their own rules to prevent such harassment, as lax enforcement disproportionately affects women and girls, who are unfortunately the primary targets of online abuse. SAG-AFTRA also expressed their concern and called for the development and dissemination of non-consensual, lewd fake images to be made illegal. They urged society to act promptly to control these technologies before it is too late, referring to the images as upsetting, harmful, and deeply concerning.