COMMITTEE ADVANCES BILLS TO CRACK DOWN ON AI SEXUAL MATERIAL

(AUSTIN) — The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice considered a series of bills Tuesday intended to respond to new technologies that allow people to create exploitative media, including images of children. The rise of AI image generation and use of “deepfakes” – AI manipulated images of real people showing them doing or saying things they never did – has created new methods for criminals to generate child sex abuse material (CSAM) or non-consensual sexual images of adults. These bills are the results of hearings the committee conducted over the interim, said committee chair and Pleasanton Senator Pete Flores. “It became increasingly clear that technology has allowed the creation of this material to be quicker, easier, and more prevalent than ever before,” said Flores. “These materials are often used to groom and abuse children.” He said that thirty seven other states already have such legislation in effect.

Senator Pete Flores of Pleasanton says the state must update its laws to keep up with new ways technology allows for the creation of exploitative images of children.

The state already has laws on the books prohibiting the creation of CSAM using images of real children, but with developments in AI, realistic CSAM involving computer generated minors is becoming more and more common. This gap in statute leads to problems for those tasked with finding and prosecuting those who make such content. DPS official Capt. Steven Stone, who supervises the unit that conducts cybercrime investigations, said that under current law, investigators have to find an actual, existing victim in order to proceed. This isn’t possible in cases involving wholly computer generated CSAM. “The laws as drafted here go a long way in reducing that hindrance,” said Stone. “We no longer have to identify an actual child, if a reasonable person looks at that image and says ‘yep, that’s a child’ then we’re able to take action.”

The first of five bills passed unanimously by the committee is SB 20, by Flores, which would create a new offense in the criminal code related to obscene visual material, regardless of how they were made. The second, SB 1621, by Houston Senator Joan Huffman would set into statute a definition of a computer-generated child as images “that to a reasonable person is virtually indistinguishable from an actual child younger than 18 years of age.” The third, SB 412 by Galveston Sen. Mayes Middleton, would remove existing loopholes that could be used to avoid this law, restricting the viewing and possession of materials only for law enforcement action and removing the “scientific, educational, governmental, or other similar justification” exemptions present in existing code.

The committee also approved two bills, by McAllen Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, aimed at non-consensual obscene images created of legal adults. The measures, SB 441 and SB 442, would create both criminal and civil remedies for individuals who find non-consensual, computer generated, explicit images of themselves. SB 441 would allow victims to seek civil damages against those who create, host, or manage payment systems for sites that host non-consensual “deepfake” or otherwise computer-created explicit images. SB 442 would allow for criminal charges against the same. It also strengthens the requirements for the expression of consent for the creation of such material.

Also Tuesday, the Senate Education K-16 Committee approved two bills that would loosen certain religious restrictions at state public schools. SB 10, by Weatherford Sen. Phil King, would require that all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments. SB 11, by Middleton, would let districts voluntarily create a period for prayer or reading of religious texts during school hours. Participants would have to sign a consent form, and the prayer session would have to take place out of earshot of those who haven’t signed the forms. “SB 11 is about providing space for free expression of religion in our public schools,” said Middleton. Each bill passed the Senate last session, and both authors said they believe the measures will fare better in the House this time.

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