by A mother and her 14-year-old daughter are calling for better protections for victims after AI-generated nude images of the teen and other female classmates were circulated at a New Jersey high school.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, officials are investigating an incident involving a teenage boy who allegedly used artificial intelligence to create and distribute similar images of other students – also teenage girls – attending high school in a suburb of Seattle, Washington.
The disturbing cases have re-focused attention on blatant AI-generated content that deeply harms women and children and is booming online at an unprecedented rate. According to an analysis by independent researcher Genevieve Oh shared with The Associated Press, more than 143,000 new deepfake videos were posted online this year, surpassing all other years combined.
Desperate for solutions, bereaved families are pushing lawmakers to introduce strong protections for victims whose images are manipulated using new AI models, or the myriad of apps and websites who openly advertise their services. Advocates and some legal experts are also calling for federal regulation that can provide uniform protections across the country and send a strong message to existing and potential manufacturers.
“We are fighting for our children,” said Dorota Mani, whose daughter was one of the victims in Westfield, a New Jersey suburb outside New York City. “They’re not Republicans, and they’re not Democrats. They don’t care. They just want to be loved, and they want to be safe.”
The problem with deepfakes is not new, but experts say it is getting worse as the technology to produce them becomes more available and easier to use. Researchers have sounded the alarm this year about an explosion of AI-generated child sexual abuse content using pictures of real victims or virtual characters. In June, the FBI warned that it was continuing to receive reports from victims, both minors and adults, whose photos or videos were used to create explicit content shared online.
Several states have passed their own laws over the years to try to combat the problem, but they vary in scope. Texas, Minnesota and New York passed legislation this year criminalizing non-consensual deep weed, joining Virginia, Georgia and Hawaii that already had laws on the books. Some states, like California and Illinois, have given victims only the ability to sue offenders for damages in civil court, which New York and Minnesota also allow.
A few other states are considering their own legislation, including New Jersey, where a bill is currently underway to ban deepfake porn and impose penalties – jail time, a fine or both – on those who distribute it. it.
State Sen. Kristin Corrado, a Republican who introduced the legislation earlier this year, said she decided to get involved after reading an article about people trying to evade revenge porn laws by using their former partner’s image. to generate deepfake porn.
“We just had a feeling that an incident was going to happen,” Corrado said.
The bill has been in limbo for a few months, but there is a good chance it will succeed, she said, especially with the spotlight on the issue due to Westfield.
The Westfield event took place this summer and was brought to the attention of the high school on Oct. 20, Westfield High School spokeswoman Mary Ann McGann said in a statement. McGann did not provide details on how the AI-generated images were spread, but Mani, the mother of one of the girls, said she received a call from the school saying her nude pictures had been created using the faces of several sons. female students and then dispersed. among a group of friends on the social media app Snapchat.
No disciplinary action has been confirmed by the school, which has stated confidentiality regarding matters relating to students. Westfield police and the Union County Prosecutor’s office, both of which were contacted, did not respond to requests for comment.
Details have not emerged about the incident in Washington state, which happened in October and is being investigated by the police. Paula Schwan, chief of the Issaquah Police Department, said they have obtained multiple search warrants and noted that the information they have could be “subject to change” as the investigation continues. When reached for comment, the Issaquah School District said it could not discuss specifics because of the investigation, but said any form of bullying, harassment or abuse among students is “completely unacceptable.”
If officials move to prosecute the incident in New Jersey, the current state law prohibiting sexual assault of minors could apply, said Mary Anne Franks, a George Washington University law professor who leads the Initiative. for Cyber Civil Rights, an organization that aims to fight online abuses. . But those protections do not extend to adults who may be in a similar situation, she said.
The best solution, Franks said, would come from a federal law that can provide consistent protections across the country and punish questionable organizations that profit from products and apps that allow anyone to easily make fakes. She said that could send a strong signal to minors who might impulsively create images of other children.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in October that, among other things, called for banning the use of artificial intelligence to produce child sexual abuse content or “non-consensual personal images of real people.” . The order also directs the federal government to issue guidance on labeling and watermarking AI-generated content to help distinguish authentic content from software-generated content.
Citing the Westfield incident, US Representative Tom Kean, Jr., a Republican who represents the town, introduced a bill Monday that would require developers to disclose AI-generated content. Among other efforts, another federal bill introduced by US Representative Joe Morelle, Democrat of New York, would make it illegal to share deepfake porn images online. But there has been no progress on it for months due to Congressional gridlock.
Some argue for caution – including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Media Coalition, an organization that works for trade groups representing publishers, movie studios and others – saying there is a need with careful consideration to avoid potentially tainted proposals. the First Amendment.
“Some concerns about deeply offensive fakes can be addressed under existing cyber-harassment laws,” said Joe Johnson, an attorney for the ACLU of New Jersey. “Whether federal or state, there needs to be substantial conversation and stakeholder input to ensure that any bill is not too broad and addresses the stated problem.”
Mani said her daughter has created a website and founded a charity to help AI victims. The two have also been in talks with state lawmakers pushing the New Jersey bill and are planning a trip to Washington to advocate for more protections.
“Not every child, boy or girl, will have the support system to deal with this issue,” Mani said. “And they may not see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
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AP reporters Geoff Mulvihill and Matt O’Brien from Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Providence, Rhode Island contributed.
