CLOSE THE AI-CSAM GAP

CLOSE THE AI-CSAM GAPA Petition for Stronger Federal Protections Against AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material

 

Artificial intelligence has advanced faster than the laws designed to protect children from sexual exploitation.

 

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in United States v. Anderegg that existing Supreme Court precedent protects the private, in-home possession of wholly virtual obscene child sexual abuse material when no actual child was used to create the imagery.

 

The ruling did not broadly legalize AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and laws addressing its production, distribution, and use involving real children remain critically important.

 

But the decision exposed a disturbing gap between modern technology and decades-old legal precedent.

 

AI can now generate hyper-realistic depictions of children being sexually abused without a camera ever being used.

 

Our laws must catch up.

Protect The Innocent calls upon Congress, federal policymakers, and the appropriate federal agencies to pursue constitutionally sound protections addressing AI-generated child sexual abuse material and to ensure that advances in technology do not create safe havens for the sexualization and simulated abuse of children.

 

We call for:

• Federal legislation specifically addressing the creation, possession, solicitation, and distribution of obscene, realistic AI-generated child sexual abuse material to the fullest extent permitted by the Constitution.

• Strong protections and penalties when photographs, likenesses, voices, or identifying characteristics of real children are used to generate sexual content.• Accountability for individuals who intentionally use generative AI systems to create or facilitate child sexual exploitation.

• Appropriate safeguards and reporting mechanisms for AI platforms capable of generating sexually explicit imagery involving apparent minors.

• Congressional review of existing federal CSAM statutes to identify gaps created by rapidly advancing generative AI technology.

• Continued judicial review, including appropriate Supreme Court clarification, regarding how decades-old First Amendment precedent applies to today's hyper-realistic generative AI.

Technology has changed.

The fundamental responsibility to protect children has not.

We refuse to accept a future in which technology advances while protections for children fall behind.

 

Add your name and stand with Protect The Innocent in calling on our nation's leaders to CLOSE THE AI-CSAM GAP.

 

Protect The Innocent
Protect childhood. Defend innocence. Demand better.