AI Revenge Porn Ban Proposed In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Two New Jersey lawmakers want to include protection against computer-generated pornography in the state privacy statutes, given the advancements made in artificial intelligence imagery.

AI technology makes it possible for people to “deepfake” images of someone in a sexual act that look authentic, and then use them as revenge, said sponsors of the bill (S3707).

Republican senator Kristin Corrado of North Jersey (R-40) said the bill is necessary to prevent bad actors from using artificial technology to generate pornography that looks like a targeted victim. Senator Jean Stanfield of Burlington County (R-8) is cosponsor.

“The public sharing of ‘deepfake’ pornography that includes a person’s likeness can be just as devastating for a victim as the real thing,” Corrado said in a news release.

“Given the rapid rise of AI, deepfake pornography is an emerging threat that we need to address today.”

The legislation includes wording on non-consensual disclosure of sexually deceptive audio or visual media in the state invasion of privacy statutes. Producing so-called “revenge porn” with AI would be a third-degree crime under the bill, and if it involved the sexual exploitation of a child it would fall under state child pornography laws, the bill shows.

“Deepfake pornography is often used to humiliate and destroy the reputations and careers of victims, and it’s a dangerous tool that domestic abusers can use to exert control,” said Corrado. “When kids use deepfakes to bully other kids, it can lead to suicide. When adults share deepfake porn depicting children, it can encourage others to victimize kids in more dangerous ways.”

Under the bill, “deceptive audio or visual media” is defined as "any video recording, motion picture film, sound recording, electronic image, or photograph, or any technological representation of speech or conduct substantially derivative thereof that appears to authentically depict any speech or conduct of a person who did not in fact engage in the speech or conduct and the production of which was substantially dependent upon technical means, rather than the ability of another person to physically or verbally impersonate the person."