"Danielle Citron, a law professor at Boston University, describes pornographic deepfakes made without a person’s consent as an “invasion of sexual privacy.” She spoke at a June hearing by the US House Intelligence Committee about artificial intelligence media manipulation tools.
The porn industry has helped pioneer new media technologies, from VHS and pop-up ads to streaming video. Citron says that the preponderance of pornographic deepfakes is a reminder of another consistent lesson from the history of technology: “At each stage we’ve seen that people use what’s ready and at hand to torment women. Deepfakes are an illustration of that.”
Citron helped spur the recent spread of state legislation on revenge porn, which is now subject to laws in at least 46 states and the District of Columbia. California is among them; last week week its governor, Gavin Newsom, signed into law a bill that allows a person edited into sexually explicit material without consent to seek civil damages against the person who created or disclosed it.
The law professor also says she is currently talking with House and Senate lawmakers from both parties about new federal laws to penalize distribution of malicious forgeries and impersonations, including deepfakes. “We’ve been encouraged that the uptake has been swift,” she adds."