The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to strengthen the state’s law against child pornography by making it apply to images created by artificial intelligence.
The bill, called the Alabama Child Protection Act of 2024, passed the House 101-0. It was sponsored by Rep. Matt Woods, a Republican from Walker County, and listed 44 co-sponsors.
Attorney General Steve Marshall said the change in the law is needed to keep up with technology used by producers of child porn.
“The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence demands that we examine our criminal laws on child exploitation to ensure that prosecutions are not lagging behind what perpetrators are capable of doing,” Marshall said in a press release. “With this legislation, Alabama will be on the cutting edge of thwarting the proliferation of child sex abuse material, no matter how it is produced.”
Woods thanked Marshall and his staff for their work on the bill.
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The legislative findings attached to the bill say that images produced by artificial intelligence are virtually indistinguishable from photographs. The bill also says artificial intelligence can create composite images that include images of a real child.
Alabama’s child pornography law, which imposes felony penalties, applies to sexually explicit images of children younger than 17. Woods’ bill would change that to make the law apply to images of children younger than 18.
The bill moves to the Senate, where Sen. April Weaver, a Republican from Bibb County, is sponsoring the same legislation.
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