New California Laws Crack Down on Distribution of Sexually Explicit Deepfake Images
Advancements in technology bring about new laws to protect people from being exploited by new tech. This also means new ways people can be arrested, prosecuted, sent to jail, and required to register as sex offenders for certain offenses. On that note, several laws were passed last year designed to deter and punish people who create and publish sexually explicit “deepfake” images of others. Read on for a discussion of these new laws, and if you find yourself facing criminal charges in San Bernardino County, contact Attorney John D. Lueck for advice and representation from an experienced Rancho Cucamonga sex crimes defense lawyer.
SB 926 – Distribution of Intimate Images and “Deepfakes”
California law already outlaws the distribution of intimate images of another person under certain conditions. California Penal Code 647 (PC 647) prohibits a range of behavior that can be prosecuted as misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The offense related to distribution of intimate images includes the following elements:
- A person intentionally distributes the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable person, or an image of the person engaged in an act of sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, sexual penetration, or masturbation,
- under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image shall remain private,
- the person distributing the image knows or should know that its distribution will cause serious emotional distress, and
- the person depicted in the image does in fact suffer serious emotional distress.
This conduct is popularly known as “revenge porn,” when a former romantic partner releases intimate pictures or videos of their ex which may have been consensually taken at the time but were meant to be private, and the ex shares the images publicly or releases them on the internet with the intention to embarrass or humiliate the other person.
Senate Bill 926 (SB 926) modifies this law to include the distribution of any “photo realistic image, digital image, electronic image, computer image, computer-generated image, or other pictorial representation” of another person as described above. An element added to the offense under these circumstances is that the image “was created in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to believe the image is an authentic image of the person depicted.”
This addition to the law recognizes the proliferation of “deepfake” technology where nude or graphic sexual images of a person can be created using advanced technological tools such as Photoshop. Now, with AI image generators, deepfakes can be more easily and more realistically created even by people without special skills in graphic arts. This section of the law does not apply to a person who was under 18 years old at the time the person committed the offense.
AB 1962 – Expanded Definition of Disorderly Conduct
This bill amends also PC 647, which provides a list of miscellaneous crimes and offenses that can be charged as misdemeanor disorderly conduct. This section of the law describes conduct such as soliciting prostitution or spying on people in private areas, as well as the distribution of images of a person that were taken privately and that would cause serious emotional distress if released publicly. AB 1962 makes several additions and deletions to section 647, adding to the definition of disorderly conduct the distribution of images without authorization of the person depicted, expanding the scope of the crime as previously defined.
AB 1874 – Increased Punishment for Publishing Private Images
A companion to AB 1962 discussed above, AB 1874 enhances the punishment for someone convicted of disorderly conduct under PC 647. Previously, a second or subsequent violation of this law was punishable as a misdemeanor by up to a year in the county jail and up to $2,000 in fines. This sentence also applied to a first offense if the victim was a minor. Now, in the case of a second or subsequent offense or if the victim was a minor, the crime can punished as a felony, provided the defendant was 18 or older at the time the offense was committed.
Any arrest and prosecution should be taken seriously, but classification of an offense as a felony raises the stakes significantly, making legal advice and representation critical.
Contact Attorney John D. Lueck for Sex Crimes Defense in San Bernardino
If you have been arrested for distributing “revenge porn,” “deepfake” images or other sex offenses in San Bernardino, ranging from misdemeanor disorderly conduct to serious felonies, contact attorney John D. Lueck in Rancho Cucamonga at 909-646-2736 or 909-484-1963 for a free consultation to discuss your case and explore your options for a strong and effective defense.
