Two teenage boys from Florida were arrested and charged with third-degree felonies for creating deepfake nude images of their female classmates. The boys aged 13 and 14 are thought to be the first to be convicted for this AI-related crime, at least in the US.

The boys were charged with third-degree felonies under a 2022 Florida law that criminalizes the creation and sharing of deepfake sexually explicit images without the victim’s consent.

The victims of the deepfakes were all classmates of the two boys, aged 12 or 13 years old. According to Wired, the boys were arrested in December and charged at the same level as Grand Theft Auto. Strangely, the penalties for creating fake images are greater than if the boys had shared real photos of the girls. Revenge porn only gets a misdemeanour, according to Florida law.

Problems with deepfakes and the creation of fake nudes have been becoming more of a widespread problem. Last year, several Spanish school girls became victims after their fellow schoolmates created fake nudes of them using an app.

Celebrities and politicians have also been cast under a similar spotlight. Last month, fake nudes of Taylor Swift were shared online and were viewed more than 47 million times before they were eventually taken down. Jenna Ortega was the latest celebrity victim to have this done to her.

Many people fear that deepfake photos or videos could also influence important elections and politics happening in 2024 worldwide. This is presumably partly why several major news outlets reacted so fiercely to the manipulated images of the Princess of Wales today.

While that was a harmless example, it shows that the press is taking the issue of fake and manipulated images very seriously, and hopefully, this should instil a little trust.

Because many countries are now imposing laws making deepfake creation and sharing of pornographic images a crime, we must make sure that we educate our children and young people about the seriousness of this. For the victims, it has major consequences and can cause a lot of trauma, of course.

However, as a mother, I can’t help but feel for the two boys who now have criminal records against them and likely have been expelled from school. They, surely, are victims too.

[via the verge]