Gong-Gershowitz Calls On State Senate To Pass Digital Forgery Bill

Press release from the Illinois House:

April 12, 2023

State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz is urging her Senate colleagues to take up her legislation to crack down on exploitative ‘deepfake’ forgeries by creating civil penalties on anyone for creating and distributing sexually explicit fake images of another person without consent.

“Digitally-forged images, also known as ‘deepfakes,’ are a serious problem that is growing rapidly in sophistication and frequency. This technology is frequently used to falsely portray women in sexually-explicit content without their consent. These deepfakes are a form of sexual abuse and our laws need to catch up to this technology before more women are harmed,” Gong-Gershowitz said.

According to a recent NBC News report, 96% of deepfakes are sexually explicit and feature women who didn’t consent to the creation of the content. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/deepfake-porn-ai-mr-deep-fake-economy-google-visa-mastercard-download-rcna75071

Gong-Gershowitz’s House Bill 2123 creates a civil a cause of action against any person who knowingly distributes, creates or solicits a digital forgery of another individual without their consent and for the purposes of harassing, extorting, threatening or causing harm to the falsely depicted individual. Digital forgers can also be held liable if their actions are reckless or if they incite violence. Instances of parody or satire are not restricted by this legislation.

“Victims of sexually-explicit deepfakes are experiencing real trauma as a result of this abuse – we have a responsibility to put a stop to it,” said Gong-Gershowitz. “This is a bipartisan issue that received unanimous support in the House. I respectfully call on my colleagues in the Senate to take up this legislation without delay.”

This press release was produced by the Illinois House. The views expressed here are the author's own.