Valley News Live

By Brendan Cullerton

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Gray TV) - A bipartisan plan would place federal restrictions on deepfake porn. Lawmakers say it is too easy for real people to be depicted sexually using artificial intelligence.

Valley News Live’s Washington News Bureau Correspondent Brendan Cullerton spoke to Senator Ted Cruz about the plan.

Senators say Congress needs to increase criminal penalties for making AI porn using a real persons likeness - and victims of this porn need more avenues to remove those images from the internet.

Elliston Berry walked into high school as a freshman excited to learn and make friends – only to find her classmate had taken her social media pictures and transformed them into fake explicit images that were circulating school.

“It was very, very scary. I had so much anxiety throughout school. And as well as just going through classes, and even just through the months leading up to moments like these, it was just so, it was just so scary,” Berry said.

Her mom was unable to get the social media app Snapchat to delete the images – so she turned to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

“These AI images that we don’t know where they’re coming from, how many there are, how many different social media apps they’re on, there’s really nothing as a parent you can do,” said Anna McAdams, who is the parent of a victim.

Cruz and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar are introducing a bipartisan bill that would create penalties for creating deepfake pornography. Violations would result in a two year penalty – three years if the content involves a minor.

“The law was not written with AI in mind, with the ability to have deepfakes. We now have new technology,” Sen. Cruz said.

Cruz says the bill would also penalize social media companies who do not take images down promptly once reported – saying companies have demonstrated the ability to swiftly act on other issues.

“If you upload on social media, lets say a scene from Lion King, or you upload a song from George Strait. Almost immediately that will get put down, and that’s because federal copyright law compels them. They know how to comply.”

Cruz says the bill has an equal amount of Democrat and Republican support – and he expects it to pass without much opposition.