Fast rise in AI nudes of teens has unprepared schools, legal system scrambling for solutions

“Can you arrest me, and charge me, in a case where the entire video is a fake child?” Delfino said. “Under that Supreme Court case, the answer is ‘no.’ “

Many states so far have attempted to address the issue, but their efforts still varied widely. At least 10 states have passed laws explicitly outlawing nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes. But only some added criminal penalties of fines and jail time; others opened the perpetrators up to civil lawsuits and penalties.

That still leaves most states without any laws on the books banning deepfakes under most circumstances. That includes California.

Several bills introduced in the state legislature this year are seeking to address the issue. But for now, police and local prosecutors have few options for bringing cases just for the production of deepfake material, especially when the perpetrators are also children themselves.

Delfino said police could attempt to bring cases against deepfake creators under cyber harassment and bullying laws that already exist. But typically such laws include the requirement that the perpetrator’s actions cause a victim to reasonably fear for their safety.

That means school districts, and the parents of the children they serve, don’t have much to rely on as they navigate the fallout of widely available AI.

“If a parent called me and asked, ‘What do I do?’ the first thing you do is go to your school district,” Delfino said. “Most school districts have codes of conduct related to the behavior of their students, and they’re typically broad enough to address what would be considered harassment.”

At Aliso Viejo Middle School, the stepmother of the 13-year-old girl victimized by her classmates believes the incident has so far been handled “very poorly.”

Despite reporting the photos, the stepmother said she didn’t hear from anyone at the school district until she filed a formal complaint more than a week and a half later.

As of this week, she said, there have been no clear actions taken by the school district. She said she has not been notified of any official disciplinary measures by the school against the students involved in creating the photos.

“I feel that the school is failing to protect these girls,” she said, “or girls in the future, by handling this swiftly.”

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