Virginia updates law to make deepfake revenge porn illegal

midian182

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In brief: Virginia has become one of the first states to make sharing deepfake videos and photos of people without their consent illegal.

Virginia's revenge porn law, in place since 2014, has been updated to cover deepfakes. The technique uses machine learning to manipulate videos and images, often as a way of digitally placing someone’s face onto another person’s naked body.

The amendment covers “a falsely created videographic or still image,” which means it includes both complex, realistic deepfake videos and simple alterations to photos using software such as Photoshop. Anyone who shares this content as a means to “coerce, harass, or intimidate” someone faces a fine reaching $2,500 and up to one year in jail.

The law went into effect on Monday, and comes just after a deepfake app called DeepNude, which turned photos of clothed women into nudes, was taken offline after it gained media attention.

Following the spread of deepfakes, last month saw the introduction of the Deepfakes accountability act in Congress by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), which would “defend each and every person from false appearances.”

While deepfakes began when it was used to place the faces of famous women onto the bodies of porn stars, the system has evolved to the point where it can put words in people’s mouths and bring back replicas of the deceased.

Back in May, it was reported that Samsung’s new approach to deepfakes allowed a model to be trained on just one still image, rather than requiring a large amount of source imagery.

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Someone placed Ocasio-Cortez's face on an image giving oral sex to someone else. Under that law, the sharing of that image would slap a hefty fine and a jail sentence on some fool.
 
Good for them although I think considering the level of damage it can cause and since the distribution is outside of state lines it should be a 3rd or 4th class Felony that includes jail time. It's tough enough getting through all the fake news but when it goes to this extreme there should be a heavy penalty included.
 
Good for them although I think considering the level of damage it can cause and since the distribution is outside of state lines it should be a 3rd or 4th class Felony that includes jail time. It's tough enough getting through all the fake news but when it goes to this extreme there should be a heavy penalty included.
Yeah, that a good idea. Cause we need to fill up our prisons even more. /s

What we really need to do is impose community service and heavy fines they can't escape. Forced, unpaid labor and expansive fines? That'll get peoples attention. Assuming they get caught of course..

You are fighting two things here, prison reform, and who should go to prision (sentencing).

If anything deserves a free tray dinner, deep fakes meets the mark for me.

As for forcing hard / unpaid labour on prisioners - most of them would love to work outside of their four walls - doing most anything. So they have to keep that as a perk for the trusted / well-behaved.
 
Passing a deepfake off as legit should be illegal. There's certainly room for parodies though.
 
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