https://gizmodo.com/ai-louisiana-outlaws-sexual-deepfakes-of-children-1850612475
Violators found to create or possess deepfaked material of minors engaged in sexual acts could face 5 to 20 years in prison.
Violators found to create or possess deepfaked material of minors engaged in sexual acts could face 5 to 20 years in prison.
I'm amazed this is legal in the first place. Is it possible that prior laws regarding children fell under a protected category of "art"? Either way, I think we all agree that this law is a good law for society.
It probably wasn't legal before either, but this clarifies the law by making it expressly illegal. Without it prosecutors woud obviously make the case that it was illegal, and someone would try and counter that since they were deepfakes that it didn't count. Hopefully such a defense wouldn't succeed but this law should preclude someone from even trying it.
The Supreme Court struck down a similar law in 2002. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234. The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 prohibited "any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture" that "is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct".
I haven't seen or read the language of this Louisiana law, and presumably intelligent law-makers would be aware that a law with a similar intent has been ruled unconstitutional, so maybe they changed enough so that this one will hold up.