MONTGOMERY — Governor Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that would enhance penalties for those who use artificial intelligence (AI) to produce child pornography.
House Bill 168 (HB168), sponsored by State Rep. Matt Woods (R-Jasper), made its way to Ivey's desk after unanimously passing the House and Senate. The bill would add penalties for those who create or distribute a "virtually indistinguishable depiction" of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The bill defines a "virtually indistinguishable depiction" as a "visual depiction created, altered, or produced by digital, computer generated, or other means that a reasonable person would conclude is of an actual individual under 18 years of age."
"The purpose of this bill is to amend our state laws to treat AI-generated child pornography or child sexual abuse material the same way we treat actual child pornography," Woods said. "In other words, if you produce, possess, or distribute or pander child pornography, the state will no longer need to establish whether actual children are involved. This bill also raises the age covered in the state from age 16 to age 17 and enables parties who wish to bring civil action or punitive damages to do so."
Distribution and possession with intent to distribute images of sexually explicit conduct are Class B Felonies; mere possession is a Class C Felony. Production or distribution of such images that are related to child sexual abuse is a Class A Felony. The law will go into effect on October 1.
On Tuesday, House members applauded the bill's signing. State Rep. A.J McCampbell (D-Demopolis) took the podium and applauded the young women from his district whose unfortunate circumstances precipitated the bill's filing. The young ladies and their parents were present in the House gallery. He also thanked Woods for sponsoring the bill in his stead.
"The governor signed the bill today, and the brave young ladies from my area in this state that had their privacy violated, and as a member of this body and as a state, we took a measure and took a step today that would make sure the people in this state realize, you will not be messing up the future of our young people," McCampbell said. "So I want to applaud them for their courage in coming forward and their stick-to-itiveness because they stuck with it and said, 'we want to go all the way.'"
"It was an honor to sponsor this piece of legislation," Woods said. "I want to thank these brave young ladies who endured such a terrible, terrible event in their young lives but had the courage, as Representative McCampbell said, to bring forth this issue. Today, we got to bear witness to the Alabama Child Protection Act, HB168, being signed into law, giving us the strongest child sexual abuse material law in the country. And that is a credit to this body who passed the bill unanimously, as well as the Senate. I think it says a lot about our state, what we're trying to accomplish to protect our young people from those who would exploit them."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
