Iowa bills target 'obscene' content on social media sites, AI-generated child pornography

Iowa lawmakers are considering several bills intended to limit children's access to online pornography and protect children and adults from artificially generated pornographic images being created using their likenesses.

One bill that advanced through an Iowa House subcommittee Tuesday would require social media companies to verify the ages of their users if they publish content on their sites that is deemed obscene.

The bill, House File 2051, would also provide that social media sites that contained "obscene material" would be subject to lawsuits if they fail to carry out the bill's requirements to verify the ages of their users.

The bill would define a social media company as an internet search engine, website, system, software provider or application that is open to the public, allows a user to create an account and enables users to communicate with each other for the purpose of posting information, comments, messages and images. Email and internet service providers and news, sports and entertainment websites are not included.

The bill uses the definition of "obscene material" currently found in Iowa Code, meaning material that describes a sexual act and "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value."

Separately, Gov. Kim Reynolds has pledged as part of her legislative agenda this year to require pornographic websites to verify the ages of their users in order to prevent anyone under 18 from accessing the site. The bill, which has not been introduced, would subject the websites to lawsuits if they fail to verify their users' age or if they improperly retain users' personal information.

Rep. Bill Gustoff, R-Des Moines, said lawmakers will continue to work on the language of the bill and may end up combining several proposals that deal with the same topic.

"We want to make sure that a bill can survive First Amendment concerns," he said. "But keeping obscene material out of the hands of children has long been respected by the Supreme Court."

He said Iowa lawmakers may look to other states that have considered similar legislation, including Louisiana.

"We’re going to look at what other states are doing and take some guidance from those who have already plowed this ground," he said.

Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, said the intent behind the bill is important.

"We do need to make sure that we aren’t doing things that are dangerous to our youth," she said. "I do worry that the wording in here is a little bit broad and we need to work on it."

Iowa bill would make it easier to prosecute AI-generated pornographic images of children

Another bill that advanced Tuesday would make it easier to prosecute anyone who uses an image of a minor and manipulates the image, using artificial intelligence or other means, to make it appear that the minor had engaged in a sexual act.

House File 2049 passed a House subcommittee on a 2-1 vote. It would make clear that using the likeness of an identifiable minor to create an altered fake pornographic image is covered by Iowa's current law prohibiting the sexual exploitation of a minor, including the possession or purchase of pornographic images of children.

A first offense violation is a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, while a second offense would be a class C felony, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland said he worked with Rep. Helena Hayes, R-New Sharon, to draft the bill.

Ritland said it's become easier for people to create fake pornographic images of children in recent years with the rise of artificial intelligence, and current Iowa law doesn't provide an easy path to prosecuting those cases.

"As technology makes it easier and easier to generate convincing images we’re seeing more and more fake images like this child pornography," he said.

Another bill, House File 2048, would criminalize the distribution of pornographic images of adults that are created or altered using artificial intelligence or other means.

Iowa's current harassment law already prohibits disseminating, publishing or posting sexual images of another person if the person does not consent to the images' distribution.

The bill would make clear that the law covers someone whose recognizable image is altered to depict them engaging in a sex act.

The measure is scheduled to receive a subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa bills target social media sites hosting 'obscene' content