Earlier this week, the Missouri Senate General Laws Committee heard HB 2350, sponsored by Representative Sherri Gallick (R – Belton), and HB 2035, sponsored by Representative Jeff Farnan (R – Stanberry). The bills, which have been combined, would criminalize the act of producing sexually explicit AI-generated content depicting minors. Modern technology provides the unprecedented ability for individuals to create child sexual abuse material, and these bills would update our law to better address a new way of producing this material. The combined bill must now be voted upon by the Senate General Laws Committee before it can be truly agreed and finally passed by the Senate body as a whole.
The MCC has testified in support of this proposal. A news article summarizing the speakers in favor of the proposal can be found here, courtesy of the Columbia Missourian.