A new law is cracking down on AI ‘revenge porn.’ Police say it closes a legal loophole

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A new Colorado law hopes to mitigate the use of artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit images of real people, without their consent.

At the beginning of June, Governor Jared Polis signed SB25-288 into law. The new law aims to expand Colorado's laws on nonconsensual pornography, or "revenge porn," to include AI-generated and altered imagery.

"As technology improves, it is only a matter of time before there will be no way to visually differentiate between a real image and an AI-generated image," Colorado Springs Police Commander Daniel Thompson said. "Colorado now joins 37 other states and the federal government in addressing this issue, ensuring law enforcement has the tools they need to investigate and prosecute digital crime."

Commander Thompson testified in support of the bill this session.

Colorado Springs Police say this will change the existing law to say:

• A person who is over the age of 18 commits a Class One Misdemeanor if they disclose or threaten to disclose private intimate images or intimate digital depictions without a victim’s consent with the intent to harass, intimidate, coerce, or for financial gain.
• The charge can be upgraded to a class 6 felony if it interferes with governmental proceedings, such as an election or a trial, or poses an imminent and serious threat to the safety of the depicted individual, their immediate family, and the suspect knew or should have known of the threat.
• Amends the Colorado Crime Victim Rights Act (C.R.S. 24-4.1-302) to include these new offenses as crimes with victim protection.
• Clarifies that “digital depictions” do not include cartoons or handmade drawings.

Under the new law, making sexually explicit images of someone without consent could lead to up to 18 months in jail and a civil lawsuit of up to $150,000.

The law will not allow victims to sue the provider of the technology used to create an intimate digital depiction.

Senator Marc Snyder told KRDO13 Investigates that AI companies helped draft the bill, but overall feel neutral about it.

"I look forward to down the road and next session seeing what we can do to enhance and build upon this bill," Snyder said, adding that his colleagues are already working on drafting new AI bills for the next legislative session.

One place Synder pointed to as a spot that could see new legislation is the safeguards preventing the generation of these sexually explicit images.

Many AI image websites already claim to block the use of real, recognizable faces — something KRDO13 Investigates encountered while attempting to create an image of reporter Michael Logerwell on the beach (see below) – but those filters don’t always work.

"They [AI sites] do have safeguards in place, but they're very easy to get around. So that's something I think we'll be looking at here in the future," Snyder said.

Lawmakers say this is the first bill of many addressing new AI technology coming to the state; Snyder confirmed to KRDO13 Investigates that his colleagues are already working on new AI bills for the next session.

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