In December, two middle schoolers from Florida were taken into custody and face third-degree felony charges related to their alleged involvement in the creation of deepfake nudes of their fellow pupils. Two boys allegedly utilized an unidentified “artificial intelligence application” to create obscene photographs of other kids “between the minor ages of 12 and 13,” according to a Wired report citing police investigations. The boys in question are 13 and 14 years old. Criminal charges involving AI-generated nude photographs may have never been presented before in the United States.
They faced third-degree felony charges related to a Florida statute passed in 2022 that makes it illegal to share sexually explicit deepfake photos without the victim’s permission. These appear to be the country’s first-ever arrests and charges about the distribution of nudes created by AI.
Following the December 6th suspension of pupils and subsequent reporting of the matter at the Miami-Dade Police Department, local media outlets in Miami, Florida, covered the incident. Pinecrest Cove Academy is located in Miami.
A growing number of school districts are facing the issue of minors making AI-generated nudes and obscene images of other youngsters. However, no other incidents that we were aware of had resulted in an arrest until the one in Florida. As of right now, no federal legislation addresses nonconsensual deepfake nudes; as a result, individual states are responsible for determining how generative AI affects issues like revenge porn, nonconsensual deepfakes, and child sexual abuse material.
The utilization of generative AI to create content that involves the sexual exploitation of children was requested to be banned in an executive order on artificial intelligence that was issued by President Joe Biden last October. While a deepfake porn law has not yet been passed by Congress, that could change shortly. This week, legislation with what seems to be bipartisan support—the DEFIANCE Act of 2024—was presented in both the House and the Senate.
While almost every state has passed legislation banning revenge porn, very few have done the same for artificial intelligence (AI) created sexually graphic images. Some victims have also gone to court because their state does not have any protections at all. One New Jersey youngster is suing another for exchanging artificial intelligence nudes.
A case involving students allegedly sharing photographs that “used real faces of students atop AI-generated nude bodies” is currently under investigation by the Beverly Hills Police Department, according to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times. The article claims that it is unclear whether a crime has been committed because the state’s legislation prohibiting “unlawful possession of obscene matter knowing it depicts a person under the age of 18 years engaging in or simulating sexual conduct” does not specifically reference AI-generated images. According to the Los Angeles Times, five pupils were expelled from school on Friday after the local school district decided to do so.
