2024 Voice of the Year Award: Who Will Win? | Episode 158

2024 Voice of the Year Award: Who Will Win? | Episode 158

Sponsored by Redwood Living

Chapter Markers
0:01 Voice of the Year Award Presentation
22:02 AI Deepfake Legislation and Advocacy

Imagine facing a personal attack so advanced that it feels almost impossible to combat—Elliston Berry did just that and emerged stronger than ever. In this episode, we honor Elliston as the 2024 Voice of the Year® Award recipient for her courageous fight against AI-generated deepfake photos. Despite initial setbacks from her school and local authorities, Elliston, alongside her mother Anna and with the support of Senator Ted Cruz, successfully advocated for the removal of these harmful images. Their battle shines a light on the often-overlooked challenges faced by non-celebrities in protecting their digital privacy. We dive into Elliston's journey, highlighting how her story underscores the pressing need for legislative action and the moral responsibility of big tech companies in protecting individuals' digital rights.

But that's not all—we take a closer look at the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, a legislative effort designed to combat AI deepfake crimes by ensuring the fast removal of damaging content. This episode is not just an exploration of personal resilience, but a call to action for all of us to demand equal digital protections, regardless of financial standing. We also share exciting news about an upcoming collaboration with Mark, a firefighter and first responder, who will offer his unique perspective on trauma management in future podcasts. As we celebrate Elliston's advocacy and influence, we reaffirm our mission to raise awareness about mental health and current events, paving the way for impactful conversations in upcoming seasons of Voices for Voices®.

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Chapters

• 0:01 Voice of the Year Award Presentation
• 22:02 AI Deepfake Legislation and Advocacy

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, justin Allen Hayes. Thank you for your support of Voices for Voices. We can't do this without you. If you are able to, we would greatly appreciate if you can make a donation to our organization. As we are a 501 organization. Your donation dollar sponsorships are 100% tax deductible. So thank you for everything that you have done and if you could like, share, subscribe, follow Voices for Voices. We're on all platforms, all social media, as well as the 17-plus platforms that we have our Voices for Voices TV show and podcast, which are over 150 episodes. So we're very grateful for the Hudson Community Television studio. The staff, individuals just really make this seamless when we come in to do these episodes. So big thank you to them. If you're able to make a donation, you can find us on Venmo Voices for Voices or you could go to love L-O-V-E Voices V-O-I-C-E-S dot org. O-r-g and I'll take you right to the landing page to make your donation and thank you in advance for that.

Speaker 1: 1:57

This episode is based around our 2024 Voice of the Year Award presentation program. The Voice of the Year Award goes to an individual who has our organization's name, voices for Voices, that we're sharing our voice or a voice of somebody that may not be able to or may not be able to communicate as effective. And so this award is really tough because we've had 52 episodes here going on after we complete this episode here for the season three. So we're going to be turning the page January 1st on season four of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. So, as we were looking through past guests, individuals we met through the community that have really really just been great communicators who may or may not have gone through trauma and tough circumstances. I refer back to last year 2023, when we awarded Tyrus the 2023 Voice of the Year Award, where we were able to fly to New York City, meet Tyrus backstage at the Gutfeld show and present him with the award after the Gutfeld show in front of the in-studio audience, which was awesome. And Tyrus he shares his experiences. He doesn't try to push any of his thoughts. He may share his thoughts, he may agree with them, he might not, but he's one of those individuals that we were able to interview last year and has a huge, huge platform and when he speaks a lot of people are listening. He's landed some pretty big interviews as of late, but an individual that is just being themselves, even though they have what can be considered a considerable amount of success considerable amount of success following you know how many millions of viewers of the gut fell showing he when he's on there. He's one of the kind of founding members with Greg and in cat Tim, and so we chose Tyrus as the recipient last year.

Speaker 1: 5:04

This year, as we were looking through individuals that we may want to present this award to, when we hit episode 138, 139, we interviewed a young lady named Elliston Berry. She and her family live just outside of Dallas, texas, and she went through a very traumatic experience. To just briefly talk about the experience she's been through. So Instagram right, one of the social media platforms pictures are out there, so she had a couple pictures posted and an individual, a student. So a student at her school used a free AI artificial intelligence program that took her pictures and turned them into what they call these AI deep, fake revenge porn photos. So showed her without clothes this program. So she showed up to school one day and the student body was kind of buzzing with what was going on and she felt totally embarrassed. They weren't real photos. I mean, they started out as real photos but what was being shared was not and the school at first didn't really seem to want to do a whole lot Law enforcement kind of around the same thing.

Speaker 1: 6:56

But at some point there started to be some momentum because Ellison was sharing her story. Because Ellison was sharing her story, her mom, miss Anna, was reaching out to her state and local representatives because she obviously, as well as we and anybody who has ever been through this type of situation, want to have those photos taken down, want to have those photos taken down. And the big tech companies you know, like Meta, that have control over you know, facebook, instagram, and then you got X and other ones out there but big tech didn't want to take the pictures down and it wasn't until Ms Anna reached out to Senator Ted Cruz's office. He's a senator in Texas and Senator Ted Cruz listened to her story, was able to communicate with big tech, get the photos taken down. The individual, the student that did the bad, deed his parents. It wasn't the school. The school didn't kick the student out, but it was the student's parents that took him out of that particular school and switched schools to do that, and so when Ted Cruz got involved, he got big tech to take photos down and up until that time you had to be a celebrity, like I think it happened to Taylor Swift. So big, big artist, big personality, artist, big personality, and hers were taken down right away. But she has a lot of money, a lot of resources, a lot of staff and things that happen. The celebrities, as sometimes we find out, sometimes tend to happen much faster. If it is something like this where, oh, my photos are out there, taylor Swift's representative, please take them down Okay, we'll take them down. Or if there's a court proceeding in it, there's a celebrity involved, the process might go slow, slow, slow and they may get a sentence that may be less than what others, and I can think of a video we posted a month or two ago.

Speaker 1: 9:34

You know Justin Timberlake. He's pulled over for driving under the influence and he was able to negotiate some type of plea deal that was much less of punishment than what a normal, regular person gets a DUI. How do I know? Because I have one know, because I have one I have on over. You know 20 years ago that you know I was not being a smart person. I thought it was at the time but I wasn't, and so I know the things I went through. And then again, this was 20 years ago that this happened for me and and Justin Timberlake was like hey, go give a public service statement, walks out of the courthouse, gives a public service announcement telling people not to get behind the wheel, so all that that's great, but they're not feeling kind of the feeling in the pain centers of the brain like, oh my gosh, like I really need to change my behavior. He's continuing on with his life, and again with a lot less of the punishment than the average person like myself or others that have gone through that.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So, taking that all all into account, it wasn't until Ted Cruz got involved that Big Tech took these AI deep fake nude pictures that are out there of Ellison who was a minor, by the way, right In high school, and she was able to communicate with Senator Ted Cruz and a bill was passed locally or statewide. But the way big tech is, they get big tech to comply. They have they, being politicians and representatives, they have to do something federally to be able to make it so number one, if it happens, the photos get taken down within 24 hours. And number two, that the person or persons that is the one making these deepfake AI revenge nudes photos, that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, that they're not just given a break. And so those are the two things that were and have come about. The name of what the act is. So there's the act, and then you have the bill and then you have the law as far as the legislative process, so the act is called the Take it Down Act and what I just referenced. Big tech needs to take the photos down within 24 hours. They have the technology to do that.

Speaker 1: 12:47

They again over Taylor Swift and she probably whether she, her staff asked, or maybe they didn't, I don't know. All I know is hers got taken down quick and it was like as if nothing ever happened. But not all of us are billionaires or hundreds of millionaires. We don't have access to a lot of those things and, elliston, like myself and my family, we don't have wealth like a Taylor Swift. So it was important when Ted Cruz took this terrible incident that happened and started to move some things forward which we would think right. It's bipartisan.

Speaker 1: 13:36

So if you're a Democrat or if you're a republican, if you have a daughter, and this were to happen to your daughter, it shouldn't matter what I was you're on, it should be just a human, human response. It's like I don't want my daughter's photos out there that are like this, that somebody took advantage of, and so that's just one way that AI is not being helpful. So there's a lot of things that might be cutting down time on certain projects and certain things, but this was one again, one free AI program that a high school student was able to manipulate photos and got away with it for a day or until these were noticed because this individual was sharing them after they were out there, like hey, did you see these? So we get back to the 2024 Voice of the Year Award and I can't, as our organization, we can't, think of anybody that was more deserving of the Voice of the Year award than elliston berry, who lives with, you know, her parents and family a little bit outside of dallas, texas, because she could have, you know, shut down emotionally and not wanted to come forward publicly. But she did come forward publicly and she she's using her voice and she is making a difference and she's showing girls of whatever age, any age, that you can use your voice and affect change. And, as Ms Anna said, she kept calling her representatives and senators until somebody got back to her and she's like I wasn't going to take no for from everybody, and so she just kept going and going and going and then she found somebody who wanted to kind of take, take the uh, take the torch and start to make things happen. So the act, the Take it Down Act is currently being looked at inside our US Congress to make that into a bill and then to make that into a law that will make it illegal for this to happen, make big tech held accountable as well as the individual or individuals that this happens to.

Speaker 1: 16:30

So what we did as an organization? We flew down to Dallas, texas, last week and presented Elliston Berry with the 2024 Voice of the Year Award. It was just an amazing experience to feel the authenticity and the eloquence, the way she was sharing what could and still probably is a traumatic event that happened in her life. So we were able to present that to Elliston. So we'll take you to that clip where we make that presentation of the 2024 Voice of the Year Award recipient Elliston Berry. Hi everyone, we are coming to you live from Dallas, texas, to present our 2024 Voice of the Year Award and this year it is going to Miss Elliston Berry. You may have seen her and her mom, miss Anna, on episodes 138 and 139.

Speaker 1: 17:47

The Voice of the Year Award with this being our second year, we want to present the award to individuals that are making an impact, not just in a small, in just their community. And so with this year's award and if you had taken a look and I recommend everybody take a look at episode 138, 139. Those episodes are everywhere, all audio platforms, all streaming platforms, to see what Ms Elliston went through experience-wise. So her story, her experiences and still going through them, coming out on the other side and trying to help others, being an advocate, somebody who is not just being a leader in the community but also across the nation, the United States and I wouldn't doubt that, across the world, that some junctures, some areas that they have heard about her story. And we wanted to do something a little special. So, instead of holding this episode solely in our Hudson studio and sending the award, we thought we would if everything lined up and luckily everything did, from a logistics standpoint, that we thought it would be good to present this in person. So we will get to the fun part.

Speaker 1: 19:40

So, elliston, thank you for being such a brave inspiration to so many people. I know I don't know because I didn't go through the situation and experiences, but I know that those tough times are when we kind of learned a lot about our character. And you didn't stand down. You stood up and your mom just kept calling and calling until the story made an impact to want to make things better for individuals that don't have to worry. There's enough things to worry about in high school and growing up that they have extra things additionally. And then you throw big tech in there, and then you throw politics and schools and there's just a whole host of things. So we are presenting you today Sorry for the thumbprints and that way we can get those wiped off, but we want to present you with our 2024 Voice of the Year Award and say congratulations and thank you for and thank you to your mom, miss Anna, for responding and getting the interview set up and to make this even possible.

Speaker 2: 21:06

Thank you so much. This award means so much and thank you, Justin, for everything you have done and giving people like me an opportunity and a platform to just share my story. Opportunity and a platform to just share my story and this award means so much to me because it is just a symbol that my voice deserves to be heard and anybody that is struggling is able to make an impact. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 21:32

Absolutely Thank you and we wish you the best of luck and the advocate side of things that individuals watching, listening and checking out the transcript will want to keep checking out the the news about the take down, take it down act that came through your story, senator ten Cruz, and in the state of Texas. Can you just maybe touch on what that is for those that might not know it?

Speaker 2: 22:08

Well, the Take it Down Act is a bipartisan bill that addresses AI crimes and it basically just says that anyone that partakes in making AI deepfakes that they will have punishment, and big tech companies have the ability to take it down all of the images within a 48-hour time period.

Speaker 1: 22:36

And I think that's excellent, that period. And I think that's excellent that individuals across the board should have these rights to have their images defects taken down. That we understand individuals with a lot of money, like Taylor Swift and the like, those tend to happen quickly and they probably have a team that's focused on that, but regular individuals like us we don't. And so to have an advocate at the state level and then we're hoping that on the federal level very soon that will be an actual law across federally to make that happen. And in part you know, big part that you were unfortunately became a victim at that point, but now you're kind of turned that on its head and you're advocating and again you speak so confidently and so eloquently that I think that's also an inspiration to others. And I don't know if you were a good public speaker before all this kind of came about and you just learned as it came.

Speaker 2: 23:55

Yeah, I think that that these opportunities have really just made me develop more as a person and it's really shown me just new experiences and I've gained so many experiences doing this and so many new things have come about this.

Speaker 1: 24:15

So, although it was a tragedy.

Speaker 2: 24:17

a lot of good has come out of it and I'm just glad to be helping others and making an impact.

Speaker 1: 24:23

Absolutely, and we can't think of a better person to be the recipient of our Voice of the Year Award. Last year, tyrus was the award recipient, and so you're definitely in great company with people that are just being themselves. So thanks again. Thank you For coming to this off-site location, kind of for both of us, but we just are grateful to have people like you to stand up for what the facts are and what the rights of every individual should be.

Speaker 2: 25:06

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 25:09

And we'll send it back to the studio for our conclusion. Thank you, elliston, miss Anna, dan Mark, who is awesome as well. He asked us if we wanted to be a guest on his podcast. He's a first responder firefighter and sharing in our gathering. He has a podcast he's put together and the firefighters and first responders some of the things they see are quite traumatic and his podcast is meant to be an outlet for those individuals that again, as we say, to share our voice, voices for Voices. So we're looking forward to being a guest on his podcast in the near future and then you can look for probably two episodes.

Speaker 1: 26:13

I'm thinking where we're going to interview him. We're going to interview Mark and he's going to talk about being a first responder, a firefighter and some of the things that they see and how they process, how he processes these events as they as they happen and as they occur. And it was amazing to be able to again meet Elliston and miss Annana, her mom, and mark, her father, in person and in dallas. So we we made that, that presentation. It was uh, just a lot, a lot of fun to get uh again, to get people that are passionate about what what they're doing. We're passionate about Voices for Voices, as you see and can hear, and they're passionate about making sure, as much as they can, that what happened to Elliston and there was another minor girl that was also impacted, who lives in New Jersey to make that as hard for that to occur, where the algorithm for big tech would catch the photo or video before it actually gets uploaded. So when you see like, oh, I'm uploading a photo, uploading a video, and it says uploading or processing or optimizing, it seems like there's so many steps when those steps are going in order, that the photos and videos are caught at that point instead of it's been posted.

Speaker 1: 27:58

And I have 100 followers now. Close to 100 people have seen these. So I want to give again a big thank you to Elliston again for her bravery, for her sharing her story, for her taking a stand, a stand, and we are, as an organization, voices for Voices so honored to have been able to present Ms Ellison Berry with the 2024 Voice of the Year Award and we want to thank you, as always, our supporters, our viewers, our listeners, those checking out our transcript Please interact with us on social media. Check out some of our true crime and mental health videos that we're putting together on current events and how those overlap into mental health and how they affect the community and individuals. So until next time, you'll be seeing us in 2025 for season four of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Until then, I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, justin Allen Hayes. Please be a voice for you or somebody in need.