New WA bill would crack down on sexually explicit, fabricated photos of minors

OLYMPIA, Wash. (KOMO) — Technological innovations evolve so fast that it’s not only hard to keep up, it’s hard for the law to stay up to date.

The latest nefarious side effect of artificial intelligence just put Taylor Swift in the wrong light after fabricated images of the pop star circulated on social platforms. The images racked up tens of millions of views before they got pulled.

A bill in Olympia to make sexually explicit, fabricated images of minors a criminal offense already moved from the House to the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

"They can take someone’s image, and they can make them show lewd sexual behavior, and the person seeing this image might not know if it’s real or fake," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Tina Orwall, told KOMO News.

House Bill 1999 would prohibit dealing, sending, possessing, and viewing such images and make it an offense with corresponding penalties now saved for non-fabricated depictions of minors in sexually explicit conduct.

It's as easy as taking a picture on your phone - and then turning to Artificial Intelligence to turn an innocent photo into a lewd, obscene image.

"We have a current case where a supervisor took clandestine photos of subordinate workers and used AI tools to turn those images into pornographic material and share those around the office," said Leah Griffin with the Washington State Association for Justice.

Orwall, a Democrat representing the 33rd district, said she started working on the bill in 2019. She told a House committee, before passage there, this new bill builds on prior bills, which did not address fabricated images.

“Protection at the federal level is kind of implied in our current laws, but it’s not specified," Orwall said in January. "I think this is our opportunity to give survivors really a path to justice, but also to make a clear statement that again, these are harmful and damaging, and we really don’t want to tolerate this in our state."

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It happens to more than just celebrities.

Fabricated nude images circulated Issaquah High School after a school dance last fall, with no charges filed against the male who used artificial intelligence to create the images.

“A member of our class took pictures of my female friends and then posted them online using AI. Yeah, I didn’t show their faces but filter their bodies to make them appear nude,” said Caroline Mullet, a ninth grader at Issaquah High, while testifying before a House committee for friends who did not want to speak about what happened to them.

“It was really devastating to the whole student body there at the high school when they found out," said Rep. Bill Ramos (D-5th District). "That’s why I started this bill."

“I hate the idea that I should have to worry about this happening again to any of my female friends," Mullet said. "My sisters or even myself."

Only one person testified in opposition to the bill during a public hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee.

“Should an individual who is convicted of possession of a fabricated depiction, where no child was harmed during the creation of the depiction, be given the same punishment as an individual who has been convicted of possession of a depiction, where the child was sexually abused during the creation of the depiction?” said Joanne Smieja.

This bill already passed the House and may move forward in the Senate next week.