Federal legislation criminalizing AI-generated 'deep fake' porn heads to President Trump's desk

Congress passes 'deep fake' pornography bill

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Artificial intelligence is now present in nearly every industry. While businesses see the benefits, law enforcement has seen how criminals have taken advantage of AI. In some cases, using AI to generate child porn.

Those cases inspired the first federal law criminalizing "deep-fake" pornography. It's now headed to President Trump's desk for his signature.

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The legislation is known as the "Take It Down Act" and addresses what lawmakers say are the dark sides of the AI technology explosion.

Bipartisan support for the bill is strong and comes after teens opened up to lawmakers about how they've been victimized.

"I felt responsible and began to blame myself and was ashamed to tell my parents despite doing nothing wrong," Elliston Berry, a victim, said.

Berry, 15, says she was the victim of deep fake AI-generated pornography after a classmate took a picture from her Instagram, ran it through an artificial intelligence program and removed her dress.

The digitally altered image was then sent around on Snapchat.

"People are really hesitant to talk about it, but I'm hearing case after case of more people being victims and a lot of people ask me questions because it's such a fascinating topic," Berry said. "The concept is so outrageous, but a lot of the conversations are more bringing awareness, which honestly is what we need."

Big picture view:

On Monday night, Congress passed the "Take It Down Act," which would make it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish non-consensual intimate images – including realistic, computer-generated pornography – a first on the federal level.

"The shame. The violation. The loss of control. It all consumes you. We have the legislation to create accountability. Now, we need the will to act," Breeze Liu, another victim, said.

The bill would also require platforms to remove explicit images within 48 hours of receiving a valid request.

Last March, 67-year-old Steven Houser, a 3rd grade science teacher at Beacon Christian Academy in Pasco County, was accused of not only possessing child porn but also creating AI-generated erotic content using yearbook photos of three students.

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"The difficult thing is that the laws can’t keep up with the criminals a lot of times, especially as you’re dealing with artificial intelligence, as you deal with computer crimes," Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said. "They’re consistently thinking ahead to different things."

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Congress and the First Lady for championing the bill over the last few weeks.

"This legislation is essential for addressing the growing concerns related to online safety," Leavitt said.

While this would be the first federal legislation criminalizing AI-generated deep fake pornography, 10 states do already have similar laws on the books, including Florida.

The Source: Fox 13's Jordan Bowen collected the information in this story.

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