'Nudify' AI porn scandal at State Senator's daughter's school led to state crack down

Washington state is cracking down on AI deepfake porn after a senator's daughter's friends were targeted by a 'nudify' app which removes clothes from photos.

Caroline Mullet, a ninth grader at Issaquah High School near Seattle, appealed to her father State Senator Mark Mullet to do something about the worrying trend after a boy at a homecoming dance started sharing explicit photos of her friends. 

A boy at the dance had used an AI app to 'strip' the girls' dresses from photos of them and then shared them around the school. 

Her father, along with Representative Tina Orwall, proposed legislation to ban sharing AI-generated sexually explicit pictures of real minors - the bill passed and will come into effect in June.

Washington is one of many states leading the fight against a nationwide crisis of deepfake porn which has seen hundreds of thousands of women from schoolgirls to Taylor Swift and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez targeted.

Caroline Mullet, told her father State Senator Mark Mullet after fake sexually-explicit photos of her friends circulated after a homecoming dance

A boy at the dance had used an AI app to 'strip' the girls' dresses from photos of them and then shared them around the school

The technology is now so accessible that anyone can upload a photo of a friend or stranger and 'nudify' them in seconds, like on this site

Another site advertises that its 'free' and 'anonymous' and there are no age checks or blocks to accessing it 

Amid a lack of federal legislation, states have been racing to combat the explosion of AI-generated deepfake porn.

The technology once lurked in the darkest corners of the internet but it is now so accessible that anyone can upload a photo of a friend or stranger and have a fabricated sexual image or video of them in seconds.

For the women targeted - women make up 99 percent of the victims, according to a recent study - the results are traumatizing. Often these fake videos and images are violent, depicting victims being raped. 

Some victims are left too scared to leave the house for fear someone has seen the footage - with one woman heartbreakingly describing how she became so desperate she almost jumped off the top of a tall building. 

Caroline's friends were targeted last fall when they discovered a male classmate had taken their photos and entered them into a 'nudify' app. 

Caroline told the New York Times her friends were 'extremely uncomfortable' and so she decided to ask her father for help.

Addressing state lawmakers in January, she said: 'I hate the idea that I should have to worry about this happening again to any of my female friends, my sisters or even myself.'

Soon after, her father, Sen. Mullet worked with Rep Orwall to propose legislation to ban the sharing of AI-generated sexually explicit depictions of real minors.

The bill passed unopposed and will come into effect in June. Under the law, first offenders could face misdemeanor charges and people with prior convictions would face felony charges.

Her father, along with Representative Tina Orwall, proposed legislation to ban sharing AI-generated sexually explicit pictures of real minors - the bill will come into effect in June

The technology is so prolific that posts and adverts for 'undressing' applications pop-up on mainstream professional networking site LinkedIn 

Since the start of last year over 24 states have proposed legislation to combat deep fake porn of minors, according to data compiled by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 

South Dakota passed a law making it illegal to possess, produce or distribute deepfakes of real minors. Similarly, Louisiana enacted a law that criminalizes A.I.-generated sexually explicit depictions of minors.

But the legislation is still riddled with holes with legal uncertainty remaining around whether deepfakes of minors count as 'child sexual abuse material'. 

It's a race against the clock as apps that create these terrifyingly realistic images have become so prolific, scores of ads for them are even popping up unchecked on professional networking site Linkedin. 

One promising step is the Defiance Act, new federal legislation with bipartisan support to amend the Violence Against Women Act so that people can sue those who produce, distribute, or receive deepfake pornography.

If the bill passes it will be the first federal law to protect victims of deepfakes.