National tracker follows progressive on state regulations over intimate deepfakes

WASHINGTON — Deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence are on the rise and some of these fake images are now very explicit. These images known as intimate deepfakes often falsely depict real people engaging in sexual behavior.

Experts say a vast majority of the victims appearing in this fake content are women and children.

“Our girls should not be solo gladiators fighting for their rights. It’s shameful,” said Dorata Moni, mother and advocate.

Earlier this year, Dorota Mani testified on Capitol Hill about an incident involving her teenage daughter. She told lawmakers her daughter was one of several at school who had their photos manipulated into deepfake nudes.

“We took a stand, and my daughter took back her dignity,” she told them this past spring.

These are the kinds of stories that led to this new interactive database from Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.

“This type of legislation really mattered, and we wanted to see where folks were taking action to try and pass this type of legislation, and where there still might be gaps,” said Ilana Beller, Democracy advocate for Public Citizen.

According to its analysis, 40 states introduced more than 130 proposals to try to regulate the spread of intimate deepfakes. So far, 28 states have passed bills that protect adults and children or just minors.

Beller said many of them are updates to existing revenge porn, and child pornography laws to now include deepfake images.

“Democrats and Republicans in the states are coming together to try to protect the citizens,” she said. “It also indicates that people understand how serious of an issue this is that they are working so quickly to get this done.

On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers are working on legislation that would require clear labeling for videos and photos created by artificial intelligence. But so far, there isn’t any federal regulation for AI yet.

“This is absolutely an issue that should transcend partisanship, and I hope that our federal legislators can come together and get this legislation passed.”

You can track the progress of bills in your state here: https://www.citizen.org/article/tracker-intimate-deepfakes-state-legislation/

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