Ohio lawmakers are moving to crack down on child sex abuse material that’s made with artificial intelligence.
The Ohio Senate on May 20 unanimously approved Senate Bill 163, which criminalizes the creation, transfer or possession of sexually-oriented material of a minor that was made with AI. It also bans people from using deepfakes to induce financial decisions, damage a person’s reputation or depict someone in a sexual situation.
The legislation also requires generative AI content to have a watermark identifying it as such.
Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, who co-sponsored the bill, said AI has become more sophisticated and allows “anybody with a computer and a brain” to harm someone else. He said his mother lost money to a deepfake scam orchestrated by someone who pretended to be her granddaughter.
“It’s difficult for us to sit in this room and imagine that people would even do these things, but they do,” Johnson said.
Ohio is one of few states that has yet to criminalize AI- or computer-generated child sexual abuse material, according to the child advocacy organization Enough Abuse. Gov. Mike DeWine called on lawmakers to address the issue during his final State of the State.
“We can’t roll back the clock on technology, but all of us, as adults, can work together to control this technology to better protect all our children,” DeWine said.
State government reporter Haley BeMiller can be reached at hbemiller@usatodayco.com or @haleybemiller on X.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio advances bill against AI child sex abuse material, deepfakes
Reporting by Haley BeMiller and Anthony Shoemaker, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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