MADISON, WI… Victims whose images are twisted into synthetic “deep fake” pornography for online display and distribution now have strong legal protections under Wisconsin Act 34, authored by Senator André Jacque (New Franken) and Representative Brent Jacobson (Mosinee) which was signed into law by Governor Tony Evers today.
“As the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) become more and more advanced, bad actors are increasingly using artificially generated sexually explicit images to harass and intimidate innocent people online,” said Jacque. “Act 34 will protect citizens against a new and disturbing form of cyber-abuse and ensure that all Wisconsinites can feel comfortable sharing regular images of themselves online without fearing that those images will be manipulated or corrupted into pornography.”
A study from the cybersecurity company Deeptrace found that about 96% of “deep fake” material is non-consensual pornography, and “exclusively targets and harms women,” the company reported.
Previous state law prohibited non-consensual creation and dissemination of representations depicting nudity (s. 942.09 Stats.), but did not directly address the unauthorized creation of sexually explicit images known as “deep fakes,” which, for example, use an existing picture of a person’s face to create a new, hyper-realistic pornographic image.
“Wisconsin Act 34 strengthens and modernizes state law by making it a felony to create, store, reproduce, or disseminate sexually explicit deep fakes without the consent of the person who is being depicted,” Sen. Jacque said. “It also makes it a misdemeanor to reproduce sexually explicit ‘private images,’ which are voluntarily taken but not intended to be shared widely.”
A recent case highlighted by Fox6 in Milwaukee emphasized the need for this change in law. The situation involved an individual who took a photograph of a woman with whom he had a previous relationship, and created an artificially generated nude image of the woman as part of a pattern of harassment. The case is making its way through the legal process, but previous law makes the probability of a conviction uncertain, since the law had yet to catch up with current technology.
This measure also strengthens and updates Wisconsin law by making it a felony to hack, intercept, or otherwise steal sexually explicit images from someone’s phone or other digital devices. Previous state law did not specifically prohibit someone from obtaining an intimate image voluntarily taken by another person on their phone who has not shared it with anyone else.
A number of law enforcement and victim rights groups supported this update to state law, including the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association, The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
Senator André Jacque represents Northeast Wisconsin’s First Senate District, consisting of Door, Kewaunee and Calumet Counties and part of Brown, Manitowoc, and Outagamie counties.
