With only days remaining before the start of the 34th Alaska Legislature in Juneau on Jan. 21, a second batch of profiled bills was published describing 10 House bills and 11 Senate bills — following 81 pieces of legislation in the first release last week. Among those are two bills by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer.
In a press release, Vance’s office writes that both bills are intended to safeguard children and maintain “societal integrity” in the face of “rapidly advancing technologies” and the proliferation of mobile devices.
The first of Vance’s bills is titled the “App Store Accountability Act,” and would create a new section of Alaska Statute that requires app store providers including for mobile phones, computers, tablets and other devices to verify the age of users via “a commercially reasonable method” and obtain parental consent before allowing minors to download or purchase applications or make in-app purchases.
Similarly, the bill says that developers would be made to receive information from app stores to verify the age of users and comply with parental consent settings — also providing in-app parental control features like time limits.
“By adopting the App Store Accountability Act, we can lead the charge in protecting children, empowering parents, and fostering accountability in the technology sector,” Vance says in the release. “This legislation is a balanced, reasonable, and necessary step to ensure the safety and well-being of families in the digital age.”
The other bill adds to the definition of the crimes of possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material language that targets photos or videos made using artificial intelligence.
Specifically, it says that if material depicts “a representation that is indistinguishable from an identifiable child under 18 years of age,” it would be considered child sex abuse material under the statute that defines the crime possession of that material. That means the photo or video would include a child’s “face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristics, regardless of whether the individual depicted is no longer under 18 years of age.”
“Advances in technology have brought us to a point where individuals can create material so obscene that it would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago,” Vance said in the release. “This legislation empowers law enforcement to prosecute those responsible for producing content depicting the sexual abuse of children, regardless of whether artificial intelligence is involved.”
Vance’s bill targeting AI-created child sex abuse material comes after the Homer Police Department last fall said it had investigated reports of minors using AI to create nude images of their classmates.
Vance did not respond to a Jan. 9 request for an interview about the start of the session.
There are several bills set to be considered by the Legislature this session targeting technology. Bills included in last week’s release would bar phones from schools, require disclosure of deepfake videos during elections and create guidance for the use of AI by state agencies.
None of the other bills in the second release on Friday are sponsored by Kenai Peninsula legislators. Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, sponsored three of the bills from last week’s release, and no bills were prefiled by representative-elect Bill Elam or Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna.
For more information, including the text of all prefiled bills, visit akleg.gov.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
