Rise in AI-Generated Explicit Images of Minors Spurs Calls for Stronger Protections

Affected families and advocates push for robust safeguards and federal regulation as deepfake videos proliferate online at an unprecedented rate.

AI-generated explicit images of teenage girls have been circulated at high schools in New Jersey and Washington, leading to calls for stronger protections for victims.
More than 143,000 new deepfake videos were posted online this year, surpassing all previous years combined, according to independent researcher Genevieve Oh.
Families affected by the issue are urging lawmakers to implement robust safeguards for victims and to regulate the apps and websites that facilitate the creation of such images.
Several states have passed laws criminalizing nonconsensual deepfake pornography, but the scope of these laws varies. New Jersey is currently considering legislation to ban deepfake porn and impose penalties on those who spread it.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in October calling for the barring of generative AI to produce child sexual abuse material or non-consensual 'intimate imagery of real individuals.' The order also directs the federal government to issue guidance to label and watermark AI-generated content.