Pensacola AI fake 'nude' photos prompt proposed legislation. What it means for victims.
Florida legislators are working to pass new laws that will close what police say is a loophole when it comes to using Artificial Intelligence to alter and sexualize the images of others without their permission.
The bills are in response to cases like the one the News Journal first reported last fall involving a high school student who downloaded images of girls and young women and altered them to appear 'nude' using an AI powered app.
One of the victims in that case, Lucy Adams Stevenson, spoke before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday in support of Senate Bill 1180, which would make it a crime for people to create nude photos of identifiable people and lewd imagery involving a child.
Currently, it's not a crime to use Artificial Intelligence to make the images, but it is to 'promote,' transfer, or share them.
That's the reason why 18-year-old William Stafford, who admitted to police he downloaded the social media pictures of girls he thought were attractive and 'undressed' them, was never charged.
However, his ex-girlfriend was arrested for sending a video she made of the images to others, including the victims.
Parents say wrong person charged: Police arrest girl for sending fake, nude photos of females. Why parents are outraged
Stevenson shared her story with the News Journal, last year, saying she grew up with William Stafford as her god-brother and she felt betrayed when he altered one of her pictures to appear nude.
The high school senior told legislators the image he altered of her was one taken when she was 16 years old working as a counselor at a Christian summer camp.
'He used all of these images from our private Instagram accounts and edited them into child pornography in my image,' Lucy Adams Stevenson told the committee. 'His ex-girlfriend was the one who sent them to everyone just kind of letting them know, 'Hey, this is what's going on.' She got in a bunch of trouble, but nothing really happened to him, which is why I'm in support of the bill, because to prevent it in the future and to hold people like him accountable.'
Stafford was identified by the court when his ex-girlfriend was sentenced to eight months' probation, earlier this month, for her role in sending the images.
Senator Don Gaetz sponsored SB 1180 in response to the Escambia County case. He said under this bill, a person who willfully and maliciously generates and possesses hardcore pornography of an identifiable person without that person's consent can be prosecuted for a felony in the third degree.
'There have to be guardrails around misusing artificial intelligence to create deep fakes that sexually exploit and victimize young women,' Gaetz told the committee. 'Many of the girls depicted in the photos are traumatized by the incident and they and their parents are worried about will happen to those images.'
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee passed SB 1180 on Tuesday. A companion bill is also making its way through the House of Representatives. HB 757 would also criminalize explicitly AI-generated photos of real people.
Rep. Alex Andrade worked with the sponsors of the bill to close legal loopholes that allowed those who create sexual depictions of others without their permission to avoid charges.
'It's a much-needed bill,' Andrade said. 'I worked with the Governor's office and the bill sponsor to help address the circumstance we had here at home. It was an unfortunate and unforeseen loophole that we all agree needs to be fixed immediately.'
If the bills are passed, the law would take effect Oct. 1.
'I hope it becomes a law because I feel that it is important to make sure that the person who originally created the images should have consequences even if they did not share it,' Stevenson told the News Journal in a follow up interview. 'Because in our case, the person who created the images did not face legal consequences, but the person who shared them did. This bill makes it to where, while the person who shared them would still face consequences, the creator of the content would as well.'
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Fake AI 'nude' photos case in Pensacola leads to new criminal laws
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