Illinois has taken a significant step in addressing the exploitation of children in the digital age by expanding its child pornography laws to include images and videos created via AI technology. This move, signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker, was announced by Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Aiming to prevent the normalization and potential grooming activities of sexual predators, the legislation specifically targets AI-generated content. "II initiated this legislation because AI-generated child sexual abuse images are an increasing concern that need to be addressed before technology outpaces our ability to distinguish between AI images and images of real children," Raoul said, according to a statement released by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The law represents further efforts to protect minors from digital exploitation and abuse.
Illinois representatives, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz and Mary Edly-Allen sponsored House Bill 4623 which deals with these emerging challenges. "The increasingly cheap and easy access to generative AI technology has facilitated a disturbing rise in explicit, artificially-created content depicting children," Gong-Gershowitz mentioned in the official announcement. Edly-Allen reinforced that sentiment, underscoring the essential role of regulation in protecting children from the constantly evolving threats posed by unregulated AI programs.
This legal framework comes at a crucial time, as the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, saw a 46% increase in CyberTipline reports in 2023 over the previous year. The ICAC Task Force is part of a network crucial in identifying and responding to exploitation crimes. Since its inception, notably, more than 2,145 arrests of sexual predators have been made by the Attorney General's ICAC Task Force since 2006. The public is urged to continue reporting suspicions of child sexual exploitation to CyberTipline.com and child abuse cases to dcfsOnlineReporting.dcfs.illinois.gov, as well as reaching out to local child advocacy centers available at ChildrensAdvocacyCentersofIllinois.org.
