“Today we lead the nation in protecting women, children and everyone in public life from the harms of artificial intelligence nudification technology,” said Maye Quade. “Companies that offer this technology for free online and in app stores will not be allowed to enable predators who abuse and victimize adults and children with the click of a button.”
Maye Quade, who celebrated the adoption of the law, thanked “victim-survivors who made this bill a reality”.
“They shared their stories with dignity and courage at the committee, with reporters and with law enforcement,” he said. “Their strength, brilliance and advocacy is why we are passing this bill today. They are dedicated to passing this legislation so that what happened to them does not happen to any Minnesotan.”
A long CNBC report Last September, a group of Minnesota friends revealed how they first learned a mutual friend had created fake nude photos of dozens of women. Although the man apologized, it seems he didn’t help identify all the victims. 19th News reported that there was no evidence that he ever shared the images, so laws such as the “Proceeding Act” did not apply, and proof of the man’s malice made it impossible to pursue penalties under revenge porn laws. Horrified that there was no way to ensure the images did not leave her computer and no way to prevent the man from continuing to create fake nude photos, the women joined Maye Quade in pushing for legislation to stop the problem at its source.
One of the Minnesota women who was targeted, Molly Kelley, told 19th News that she dedicated two years of her life to “finding a solution to mitigate the damage that was in the making, when it was actually caused.”
“These images don’t exist without the involvement of a third party and without some kind of machine learning model,” Kelley said.
Even if Walz signs the law, however, tensions remain that could derail enforcement.
Kelley told News 19 he’s confident the law could overcome legal challenges if any US firm sued to block it, but it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a single state to enforce the law against app makers in other countries. Note that DeepSwap, the service used to attack the Minnesota women, operates overseas, sometimes claiming bases in Hong Kong and Dublin, CNBC reports. 19th News reports that the pending state fight to regulate foreign apps is leading to a federal ban prevailing.
