SACRAMENTO – Today Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1831, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), to criminalize the creation, distribution, and possession of artificial intelligence-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The new law will address the rapidly accelerating dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies creating disturbing and harmful content resembling actual children. AB 1831 is one of three bills Assemblymember Berman successfully authored this year to protect Californians from fast-moving AI technology and advance the responsible use of AI.
“Child sexual abuse material must be illegal to create, possess, and distribute in California, whether the images are AI generated or of actual children. AI that is used to create these awful images is trained from thousands of images of real children being abused, revictimizing those children all over again," said Assemblymember Berman. "I'm grateful to Governor Newsom for signing AB 1831, which will ensure that the sexual exploitation of children in California is illegal—including AI-generated pictures and videos of children being sexually abused. This would not be possible without the powerful advocacy from survivors of AI-generated sexual exploitation, like Disney star Kaylin Hayman, who bravely testified to the lasting harm this digital abuse causes to children. I'm grateful to law enforcement for bringing this to my attention and working with me to make sure more children aren't victimized in the future.”
In addition to AB 1831, Governor Newsom signed AB 2876 (Berman) which integrates AI literacy content into the core curriculum for all K-12 students in California. Earlier this month, the Governor signed AB 2655 (Berman), a first-in-the-nation policy to require online platforms to restrict the spread of election-related deceptive deepfakes meant to deceive or disenfranchise voters based on fraudulent content.
“Unregulated A.I. has the potential to exploit many, especially children. SAG-AFTRA applauds Governor Newsom for signing AB 1831. We are grateful for Assemblymember Marc Berman’s leadership, and the California Legislature for moving the bill to the governor’s desk. Now that this bill is signed into law, we can better protect minors from those who might use A.I. technology to cause harm,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
“Assemblymember Berman, with his keen understanding of the dangers posed by deepfake technology, was instrumental in guiding this bill to signature," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. "Working with Kaylin Hayman, who courageously shared her experience as a victim of morphed child pornography, we were able to expose the real-life evils of computer-generated images. Kaylin’s strength and determination to advocate for this bill will protect minors in the future, and her efforts played a pivotal role in enacting this legislation. Today, a dangerous AI loophole has now been closed."
“The emergence over the past year of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) platforms that can be used to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and facilitate child sexual exploitation is a recent example of a new technology that is challenging efforts to keep children safe and to detect, identify, remove, investigate, and prosecute online CSAM and sexually exploitative content relating to children. NCMEC supports AB 1831 because it addresses gaps in California’s legal remedies for child victims of GAI CSAM. Many child sexual exploitation cases are prosecuted at the state level, and we are heartened to see states move quickly to revise their CSAM and related laws to ensure that GAI CSAM is criminalized,” said Michelle DeLaune, President & CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
“I am very happy to be working with these inspiring people as well as making history. It is my honor to be shining light on this terrible reality for other victims. I’m blessed to be in this position and forever grateful for this team! I look forward to seeing this bill be signed and put into action,” said Kaylin Hayman, a survivor and victim advocate, and former Disney child actor.
“We are happy to support the people who are responsible for the creation of this law that is going to help protect so many children from being victimized. Our entire family is very proud of Kaylin's bravery and resilience on this journey. Hopefully this law will set a precedent for other states and will make predators accountable for the crimes they are committing," said Mark and Shalene Hayman, Kaylin's parents.
“We thank the Governor for recognizing by signing this bill that our criminal statutes against abusing or endangering children must clearly reach the sickening and public sexualization of their appearances,” said Ed Howard, Senior Counsel, Children’s Advocacy Institute, University of San Diego School of Law.
"Common Sense Media applauds Assemblymember Berman's efforts to safeguard children online with the introduction of this bill, AB 1831, which builds on the success of AB 1394, a bill that was signed into law last year to help stamp out the deeply harmful problem of online child sex trafficking. This new bill employs a similarly proactive approach, this time protecting kids and teens against online exploitation that is exacerbated by the rise of AI. California should take the lead when it comes to protecting kids and families from the negative impacts of this powerful new technology,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO, Common Sense Media.
AB 1831 is co-sponsored by Common Sense Media, SAG-AFTRA, University of San Diego School of Law Children’s Advocacy Institute, the California District Attorneys Association, and Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko.
Contact: Bermanpress@asm.ca.gov