Half of the US population is now covered under state bans on nonconsensual explicit images made with artificial intelligence as part of a broader effort against AI-enabled abuses amid congressional inaction.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on March 14 signed legislation (HB 1999) that allows adult victims to sue the creators of such content used with the emerging technology.
That followed Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signing into law a similar bill (HB 1047) on March 12 that includes penalties such as misdemeanor charges for a first offense. Adult victims do not have a private right to action under the measure.
The laws join an emerging patchwork of state-level restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence as federal lawmakers continue mulling their own approach to potential abuses by the technology.
Ten states had such laws in place at the beginning of 2024: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Georgia.
“People are being harmed and we need to move quickly,” Washington state Rep. Tina Orwall (D), who sponsored the Washington law, told Bloomberg Law in February.
Federal AI Inaction
Congress has been seeking to set rules that mitigate the technology’s risks, such as deepfake pornography, but federal regulation has been lagging behind the rapid pace of AI development.
State lawmakers have acted, however, after AI-made deepfakes of popstar Taylor Swift in January had millions of views on social media before being removed. And fake robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden confused voters before the New Hampshire primary, showing the potential for AI abuses as the November election approaches and technology becomes more available.
“The urgency with which states are acting to pass anti-deepfake legislation is indicative of how serious of a threat generative AI is to our election security,” said Ilana Beller, organizing manager at the public interest group Public Citizen in a statement.
Governors Holcomb of Indiana (HB 1113) and Spencer Cox (R) of Utah (SB 131), as well as Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (SB 182), have recently signed into law bans on election deepfakes.
Similar bills in Wisconsin (AB 665), Florida (HB 919), and Oregon (SB 1751) await gubernatorial action after passing their state legislatures.
The Arizona Senate (SB 1515) and House of Representatives (HB 2394) last month passed their own respective measures that would ban election deepfakes. The two chambers would have to reconcile their differences for the measure to be signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).
Hochul Moves to Strengthen NY Law
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is pushing a package of proposals aimed at deepfakes that include strengthening the state’s existing law against AI-made revenge porn as well as a ban on AI in election materials without their disclosure.
The Hochul proposal would allow people to file lawsuits in the state against the creators of images that feature them “for the purpose of harassing, annoying or alarming such person,” according to the bill.
California lawmakers are also mulling a range of measures this year against deepfakes.
“The people with the power to act on this issue at the federal level should learn from their example,” Beller said of the state-level activity.
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