Assemblywomen Donlon and Peterpaul’s Legislation Supports Fight Against Computer-generated Deepfake Nonconsensual Intimate Imagery

TINTON FALLS - Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul and Assemblywoman Margie Donlon (D-Monmouth) have worked since their election in 2023 to fight against the exploitation of children and women on social media and the internet. “We are pleased that New Jersey has joined a coalition of 47 other states to call on tech companies to do more to prohibit the use of their technology to create computer-generated deep fake non consensual intimate imagery (NCII),” Assemblywoman Peterpaul said. “This has been a priority for me, and for my Legislative District 11 partners, Senator Vin Gopal and Assemblywoman Margie Donlon.”

The State Assembly unanimously passed two of their bills, A5004 and A4174. Senator Gopal also was a primary sponsor and has introduced both bills in the Senate, where they are slated to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Computer-generated NCII online poses significant harm to the public, especially young people. It is a growing problem that has been used to embarrass, intimidate, exploit and bully people,” Senator Gopal said. “A 2023 report found that 98 percent of fake videos online are deepfake NCII, according to state Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office.”

The legislation, A5004, creates a separate crime for items depicting sexual exploitation or abuse of children using computer-generated or manipulated sexually explicit images. The other bill, A4174, clarifies that consent to being photographed, filmed, or recorded in a sexual manner does not include or imply consent to disclosure or publish the image. This bill is about preserving an individual's privacy and ensuring that consensual images shared between adults are not then shared without the individual’s consent.

“Conduct that would be inappropriate if done by humans is not excusable simply because it is done by a machine,” Assemblywoman Donlon said. “ AI and social media companies need to know there will be repercussions if they do not stop harming children by promoting chatbots that engage in sexually inappropriate conversations with kids and post sexually explicit images without a person’s consent.”

### Senator Vin Gopal, a lifelong resident of Monmouth County elected in 2018, serves as Senate Majority Whip and Chair of the Senate Education Committee. Assemblywoman Dr. Margie Donlon, a practicing physician, serves on the Assembly Health and the Tourism, Gaming & the Arts Committees; Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul, Esq., serves on the Assembly Commerce, Economic Development & Agriculture, Aging and Human Services, and the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committees They represent residents of Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Fair Haven, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, and Tinton Falls in the State Senate and State Assembly.