FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a letter sent by the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to U.S. House leadership endorsing the Child Exploitation and Artificial Intelligence Expert Commission Act of 2024.
The Act would establish a commission to “investigate and make recommendations on solutions to improve the ability of a law enforcement agency to prevent, detect, and prosecute child exploitation crimes committed using artificial intelligence.”
“AI is useful in many ways, but the technology can also be used to harm people, especially children,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We need to protect the children.”
Attorney General Jackley this year presented legislation that revised certain definitions to the current child pornography laws and criminalize the possession, manufacturing, or distribution of child pornography to include Artificial Intelligence generated image and videos. That would include “deepfake” images or videos of an actual child that have been manipulated to make it look like the subject is a child engaged in prohibited sexual acts and AI-generated images that do not depict any actual person but are created to look like a child engaged in prohibited sexual acts.
The legislation was part of Senate Bill 79 which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
“Thanks to the Governor and legislators, we have done our part in South Dakota to protect children from the dangers of the mishandling of Artificial Intelligence,” said Attorney General Jackley. “It is now time for Congress to finally do something at the national level.”
Other Attorneys General who part of the 44-member coalition sending the letter are from Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
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