Washington AG joins push to stop spread of deepfake pornography online

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown spearheads a bipartisan initiative to pressure tech companies into blocking deepfake pornography, which disproportionately targets women and girls. Recently, the Washington Legislature passed a groundbreaking law criminalizing the willful distribution of malicious deepfakes, categorizing it as a gross misdemeanor. This legislation is notable as it extends liability beyond sexual and political deepfakes, marking a first in the nation. At the federal level, the Take It Down Act requires platforms to act within 48 hours to remove nonconsensual imagery. The coalition of attorneys general has reached out to major payment platforms like Visa and Mastercard, urging them to enforce policies against profiting from such content.

They argue that these platforms should actively monitor and eliminate sellers of deepfake tools from their networks. Additionally, they have approached search engines like Google and Microsoft, requesting commitments to restrict access to deepfake pornography. By drawing parallels to how search engines handle dangerous content, they underscore the need for immediate action to prevent the proliferation of harmful deepfake materials.