This week, former President Donald Trump shared a series of AI-generated images on his Truth Social platform that falsely depicted pop star Taylor Swift and her fans endorsing his presidential campaign. The images, which showed women in “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts, were created by the John Milton Freedom Foundation, a shadowy Texas-based non-profit with a history of spreading misinformation.
The foundation, which frames itself as a press freedom organization aimed at “empowering independent journalists,” has been involved in promoting rightwing media influencers and has sought millions in funding for a fellowship program. Despite its grand ambitions, the organization appears to primarily engage in sharing engagement bait on X (formerly Twitter) and has a minimal online presence.
The images, initially posted by the conservative @amuse account on X, were labeled as satire and bore a watermark indicating sponsorship by the John Milton Freedom Foundation. Trump’s reposting of these images has raised concerns among disinformation researchers, who warn that generative AI can lower the bar for creating misleading content, especially in the context of elections.
The John Milton Freedom Foundation, with a team of five people based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has yet to achieve the significant funding it seeks, and its connections with the media influencers it claims to support remain unclear. Despite this, the foundation’s content, including AI-generated depictions of political figures like Kamala Harris, has gained traction on social media, further blurring the lines between satire and disinformation.
