(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill on Friday that will make using artificial intelligence to create pornography of a person a misdemeanor and using an AI-generated nude or sexual image of a person to intimidate, coerce or harass them a felony.
Wisconsin Act 34 was authored by Rep. Brent Jacobson, R-Mosinee, and Sen. Andre Jacque, New Franken.
The law, which goes into effect on Saturday, came after D.C. Everest Junior High student Bradyn Bohn died by suicide after he was the victim of sextortion.
“Recent events like the tragic death of DC Everest student Bradyn Bohn demonstrate how vulnerable we can be to online coercion and intimidation,” Jacobson said in a statement. “I am proud that my colleagues in the Legislature and Governor Evers could come together to proactively update our laws and keep Wisconsinites safe!”
The law is an expansion of prior crimes related to the depiction of nudity.
Jacque cited a study from Deeptrace which showed that 96% of “deep fake” material is non-consensual pornography, and “exclusively targets and harms women.”
Jacque cited another case in Milwaukee where an artificial image was created by a former police officer who then used the image to harass an ex-girlfriend.
“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,” Jacque said in a statement. “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.”
