Photographer Stops Posting Kids’ Photos After Judge Rules AI Child Sex Abuse Images are Protected

A photographer in Texas says she is no longer sharing identifiable photos of children on social media or on her website after a federal judge ruled that the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Ashley Contreras, who operates in Hereford, Texas, says she is removing all photos of children from her pages, whether she has permission to publish them from their parents or not.

Contreras’ decision comes after a controversial ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit that dismissed some of the charges against a man who allegedly used an AI image generator to create thousands of CSAM images.

Steven Anderegg, of Holmen, Wisconsin, had his charges of CSAM possession dismissed under the First Amendment. Judge John Z. Lee cited precedent rulings by the Supreme Court from 1969 and 2002 in his ruling, but did raise concerns “about the lines these cases draw.”

‘I Wouldn’t Be Able to Sleep at Night’

Contreras tells KFDA that the idea that one of her photos could be used for malicious purposes horrifies her.

“[It could be] an innocent picture of somebody riding a bike [that’s] completely different by the end of the day when falling into the wrong hands,” says Contreras.

Contreras statement on her Facebook page.

By raising awareness, she hopes other photographers might also consider refraining from sharing photos of children and protect them from harmful AI content.

“I take it personally,” Contreras tells KFDA. “I treat each client like they’re my own kids. I wouldn’t like my kids’ pictures posted on the internet, so I don’t show my clients with permission or not.”

“I don’t think I would be able to sleep with myself at night if I found out that images were taken from my page for the wrong purposes,” she adds.

Contreras also notes that just because a parent deletes a photo from social media, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone forever. The photo could have already been saved on a bad actor’s hard drive.

Back in May, U.K. schools were advised to remove students’ photos from their websites after being warned that blackmailers were using them to create sexually explicit images.

Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.