AI is quickly getting better at producing realistic images. Since we can’t have nice things, people are also quickly realizing that they can use it to produce realistic pornographic likenesses of people.
These deepfakes — which have been used to harass coworkers and children — used to live in a limbo space where, despite being obviously wrong, evaded punishment because the creation and sharing of these images wasn’t technically illegal. States have been adjusting their laws to this new use of technology; Washington is the most recent. From Axios:
A new Washington state law will make it illegal to share fake pornography that appears to depict real people having sex.Advancements in artificial intelligence have made it easy to use a single photograph to impose someone’s features on realistic-looking “deepfake” porn…The new Washington law, which Gov. Jay Inslee signed last week, will make it a gross misdemeanor to knowingly share fabricated intimate images of people without their consent.
People who create and share deepfake pornographic images of minors can be charged with felonies. So can those who share deepfake porn of adults more than once.
Public figures like Taylor Swift and Scarlett Johansson have been targeted by deepfakers. Their legal teams were able to do damage control, but the average person doesn’t have nearly as many resources to devote to clearing their name or scrubbing the web. This law, in addition to the states that will adopt laws like it, make navigating a world of perverts with smartphone access a little more safer.
New Washington State Law Criminalizes Deepfake Porn [Axios]
Earlier: Will Only The Real Scarlett Johansson Stand Up?
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
