Washington AG joins push to stop spread of deepfake pornography online

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown leads a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general pushing for measures to combat deepfake pornography, predominantly affecting women and girls. Their letters to major payment platforms, including Visa and Mastercard, emphasize the urgency to block services that facilitate the sale of such content. The Washington Legislature recently enacted legislation criminalizing the willful distribution of malicious deepfakes, establishing a legal framework that other states may follow. The coalition also contacted search engines, asking them to strengthen policies that limit access to deepfake pornography. Experts note that 98% of fake videos shared online are deepfake pornographic materials, which have attracted hundreds of millions of views.

The group draws parallels to how search engines manage harmful content, advocating for a similar approach to deepfake searches. In a notable case, Civitai, a generative AI company, resorted to cryptocurrency after its payment processor withdrew over concerns about nonconsensual content. The attorneys general stress the need for immediate action to protect victims from this growing digital threat.