WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) and Congressman Joe Morelle (NJ-25) hosted a joint press conference Tuesday, taking action to end AI generated deepfake pornography.
They were joined by Dorota and Francesca Mani who are working to pass HR 6466, the AI Labeling Act of 2023 and HR 3106, the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act, after their difficulty finding help when Francesca and her classmates were the target of deepfakes at a New Jersey High School.
“As a father, I am deeply disturbed by how effortlessly this kind of technology can be used in an explicit nature and minors can easily be the victims,” Kean said. “We live in a highly advanced technological world that is ever-changing and proper oversight is necessary. Addressing AI is a bipartisan issue, and I am proud to cosponsor Rep. Morelle’s bill to help ensure that we are doing everything we can to stop nonconsensual deepfakes online and that there are legal repercussions for those bad actors. Proper guardrails and transparency are essential for fostering a sense of responsibility among AI companies and individuals using AI. I applaud Francesca’s courage for speaking up against this issue and advocating for change to protect others from the potential harm caused by this powerful technology.”
“Just because I’m a teenager doesn’t mean my voice isn’t powerful,” said Francesca Mani of Westfield, NJ. “Staying silent? Not an option. We are given voices to challenge, to speak up against the injustices we face. What happened to me and my classmates was not cool, and there’s no way I’m just going to shrug and let it slide. I’m here, standing up and shouting for change, fighting for laws so no one else has to feel as lost and powerless as I did on October 20th. Our voices are our secret weapon, and our words are like power-ups in a Fortnight. My mom and I are advocating to create a world where being safe isn’t just a hope; it’s a reality for everyone.”
“The use of AI by some high school students to manipulate the image of my daughter, no matter how uninformed or innocently intended, is unacceptable,” said Dorota Mani. “This incident offers a tremendous opportunity for Congress to demonstrate that it can act and act quickly, in a non-partisan matter, to protect students and young people from unnecessary exploitation.”
“Try to imagine the horror of receiving intimate images looking exactly like you—or your daughter, or your wife, or your sister—and you can’t prove it’s not,” Morelle said. “Deepfake pornography is sexual exploitation, it’s abusive, and I’m astounded it is not already a federal crime. I’m grateful we have a generation of young women like Francesca ready to stand up against systemic oppression and stand in their power by fighting for their right to hold these perpetrators accountable.”
In addition to cosponsoring H.R. 3106, the Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act, Congressman Kean has also introduced HR 6466, the AI Labeling Act, a bill that would help ensure people know when they are viewing AI-made content or interacting with an AI chatbot by requiring clear labels and disclosures.
More specifically, the AI Labeling Act would:
- Direct the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to coordinate with other federal agencies to form a working group to assist in identifying AI-generated content and establish a framework on labeling AI.
- Require that developers of generative AI systems incorporate a prominently displayed disclosure to clearly identify content generated by AI.
- Ensure developers and third-party licensees take responsible steps to prevent systematic publication of content without disclosures.
- Establish a working group of government, AI developers, academia, and social media platforms to identify best practices for identifying AI-generated content and determining the most effective means of transparently disclosing it to consumers.
