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Federal Appeals Court Rules AI-Generated Child Pornography Possession Is Protected Speech in Private Homes

A federal appeals court has ruled that privately owning AI-generated images of child sexual abuse material, made without real child involvement, is protected under the First Amendment if the images remain within a private home. The Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss a possession charge against Steven Anderegg, who used the Stable Diffusion AI model to create hundreds of photorealistic images of children in sexual situations. While the government argued that modern AI makes it difficult to distinguish between real and fictional children, the court was bound by a 2002 Supreme Court precedent that rejected restrictions on fictional child depictions. The ruling maintains that the government cannot criminalize private possession of obscene material inside a home unless it involves real victims. However, judges John Lee and Joshua Kolar noted that as AI technology advances, the Supreme Court may eventually need to revisit the 2002 decision. They highlighted that some AI models are trained on real child sexual abuse material, which could eventually change the legal distinction between virtual and real children.

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