Two lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would make it a federal crime to share digitally altered pornographic images without consent.
Congress made another push Tuesday to pass the Intimate Image Deepfake Prevention Act, led by Representative Joseph Morrell, according to reports. Wall Street Journal.
The Democratic New York congressman first drafted the bill in May 2023, he said in a statement. press release The scheme was established at the time “to protect the right to privacy online amid the rise of artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated content”.
Morrell's new Intimate Image Deepfake Prevention Act includes New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Keene as a co-sponsor, the newspaper reported.
Lawmakers at Westfield High School in New Jersey created their own bills after AI-generated pornographic images of female students were distributed by male classmates without their consent.
On October 20, Westfield High School Principal Mary Asfendis confirmed the incident to parents of the school's approximately 1,900 students after the girls reported the photos to school administrators. .
“This is a very serious incident,” Asfendis wrote. “New technologies are making it possible to alter images, and students need to know the impact and harm these actions can have on others.”
The reintroduced bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which has not yet decided whether to pass it.
Keene has also been an outspoken advocate for putting guardrails around AI, including the AI Labeling Act of 2023, which would require creators to disclose whether images or written content was created using AI. It was introduced in November.
In addition to making the sharing of digitally altered intimate images, also known as “deepfakes,” a criminal offense, Morrell and Keene's bill would also allow victims to sue perpetrators in civil court. also possible.
When the Post reached out to Morrell for comment, his office shared a press release about reintroducing the bill, in which he said: “Deepfake porn is sexual exploitation and abuse, and I'm surprised this isn't already a federal crime. My bill would finally make this dangerous practice illegal and hold perpetrators accountable. It will happen.”
Representatives for Mr. Keene did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
More than 30 girls at Westfield High School are said to have fallen victim to a deepfake scheme, but how many students were involved in creating the fake nude images, or were any disciplinary actions taken? is not immediately clear.
However, two male students at a Miami high school were suspended for creating and distributing images so disturbing that several of the victims did not want to return to class.
The perpetrators obtained facial photos of students (male and female) from the school's social media accounts, used an AI deepfake app to create nude images, and shared them on social media.
According to Visual Threat Intelligence Company sensitivitymore than 90% of deepfake images are pornographic.
Another worrying report from University College London said humans are unable to detect more than a quarter of deepfake audio samples generated by AI.
UCL researchers say deepfake technology is getting more and more powerful, with the latest pre-trained algorithms able to “reproduce the voice of someone speaking using just a three-second clip”. I warned you.
As an example of how persuasive this technology can be, earlier this month, the Grammy Award winner released an ad featuring an AI-generated video of scammers peddling Le Creuset trying to steal his money and data. Several Taylor Swift fans were reportedly scammed out of hundreds of dollars after a fan.
The ad, which can be seen across all social media platforms, shows Swift, 34, standing next to a Le Creuset Dutch oven. According to the official websitecosting from $180 to $750, depending on size and style.
Earlier this year, deepfake images of Pope Francis wearing a Balenciaga down jacket and Donald Trump resisting arrest also took the internet by storm.
