Bill would criminalize 'fake nudes,' revenge porn

Bill would force social media companies to remove AI-generated ‘fake nudes’

What you probably already know: Senators from opposing parties rarely agree on anything, but when it comes to protecting teen girls from the rapid rise in AI-generated fake nude photos being disseminated on social media, there appears to be some bi-partisan agreement. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., have introduced a bill that would criminalize publication of nude images regardless of whether they’re real or fake.

Why? The rise in these deepfakes has many experts concerned. It’s already hard to be a teenage girl online, but now technology has made it even easier to shame and humiliate kids by posting and sharing these kinds of photos, also known as revenge porn. The bill would criminalize the practice while also putting the responsibility for removal on the websites that host the images.

What it means: Revenge porn isn’t new. I edited a story back in 2016 at the Puget Sound Business Journal about the issue and the lawyers who were fighting to get justice for victims. One of the challenges is the patchwork of laws that make it difficult to get websites to take down the images. But now, the rise in AI-generated images means it’s even easier to create these kinds of images to torment victims. As the bill points out, this is increasingly affecting minors.

What happens now: If passed, the bill will require social media companies to take down the images within 48 hours of receiving a request from victims, while also criminalizing the act of knowingly publishing the images in the first place. The Wall Street Journal interviewed one victim who stayed home from school for days and found it hard to concentrate after fake photos were shared with her classmates.

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