Bramnick Joins Fight Against AI Made Porn After Westfield Girls Victimized

WESTFIELD, NJ — Senator Jon Bramnick(District 21) is sponsoring a bill and joining the fight against deepfake pornography after female Westfield High School students were victimized by AI technology.

"AI deepfake pornography is being used to harass, ridicule, and embarrass innocent students in our local schools. I’m joining as a sponsor of Senator Corrado’s legislation to increase penalties for bad actors who engage in the disgusting proliferation of deepfake pornography," said Bramnick.

This past summer it was discovered that students at Westfield High School used AI technology to make and distribute fake pornographic images of other female students at the school. Read More: AI Made Porn Of Westfield HS Students Prompts Investigation

Girls at the high school recently discovered boys were sharing nude photos of them in group chats after one or more other students used an online tool powered by artificial intelligence to create the images, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Following the discovery, the school district launched an investigation.

At the Nov. 21 Board of Education meeting Superintendent Raymond Gonzalez touched on the issue.

"Now more than ever school districts are faced with unexpected challenges for which we don’t always have an immediate answer. Global events, domestic, rapid advances in technology all being among them," said Gonzalez. "We will continue to address any crisis with urgency while remaining deliberative in our response and always mindful of the needs of all of our students."

Corrado's bill, S-3703, would prohibit deepfake pornography and impose criminal and civil penalties for the non-consensual disclosure of deepfake pornography.

Under the bill, the non-consensual sharing of deepfake pornography would be a crime of the third degree.

Distributing, possessing, or storing deepfake pornography depicting a child would carry the same penalties attributed to child pornography, which are a first- or second-degree charge depending on the number of files found.

"Republicans and Democrats should work together to address the pervasive issue of AI crimes to help school administrators and victims quickly respond when these disturbing incidents occur," said Bramnick.

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