NJ teen victim of AI nudes sues student accused of spreading them

🔲 NJ teen victim of AI nude photos suing fellow student

🔲 Westfield teen accused of sharing the images was not charged

🔲 Suit says ‘nonconsensual’ deep fake porn haunts victims

WESTFIELD — The family of a teen girl victimized by fake nude images made public is suing the family of a teen boy accused of creating the photos — using Artificial Intelligence — and then sharing them.

See more: SHOCKING DEEPFAKE PORN IMAGES AT WESTFIELD SCHOOL 

The federal lawsuit was filed in late January after Westfield Police confirmed that no criminal charges would be filed in the case.

"Jane Doe" and her family are seeking $150,000 in damages for each fake image that was created and shared, MyCentralJersey.com reported.

’Exploited, abused, and victimized by non-consensual pornography,' AI-made

According to the suit, the traumatic situation unfolded in the fall, when a 15-year-old boy referred to by the initials “K.G.” requested to be friends with one of the victims on Instagram.

Fully clothed images posted to the girl’s social media account were fed into an online AI program, the suit continued, which made them nude images — then shared to Snapchat.

Attorneys Shane Vogt and John Gulyas have said of their client "Jane Doe is one of many girls and women who have been and will continue to be exploited, abused, and victimized by non-consensual pornography generated through artificial intelligence ('AI').”

Nude AI photos: Child pornography, or unregulated content?

The lawsuit outlines that due to the girl’s minor age, the images count as child pornography, which is not protected by the First Amendment.

Defense attorney Christopher Adams has said in following court documents that there are no state or federal laws that prohibit such "deepfake" images.

There are proposed regulations at both levels.

State, fed measures: Deepfake pornography would be crime

In October, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that called for banning the use of generative AI to produce child sexual abuse material or non-consensual pornography.

As of last month, U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J. 7th District, who lives in Westfield, has co-sponsored the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act.

If passed, it would prohibit non-consensual disclosure of digitally altered intimate images.

The federal legislation would make sharing such images a criminal offense and also would create a right of private action for victims to seek relief.

At the state level, there has been bipartisan efforts to ban creation of deepfake pornography, with “criminal and civil penalties for non-consensual disclosure.”

State Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, is sponsoring the bill with state Sens. Jon Bramnick. R-Union, and Michael Testa, R-Cumberland. Democratic Assembly members Reginald Atkins, Herb Conaway and Ellen Park have sponsored a companion bill.

The measures were first introduced last year, but stalled out.

They were introduced in the current Legislative session last month and referred to committees.

In Westfield, school officials have repeated that they cannot comment on how many students were impacted or any disciplinary actions that were taken.

Shane Vogt is a nationally known attorney specializing in First Amendment cases, who has represented both pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and Sarah Palin.

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