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Panel backs update to Maryland child-sexual-abuse law to cover AI-generated images
Summary
The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony supporting House Bill 5 to expand Maryland's definition of child sexual abuse material to include computer- and AI-generated images and videos; advocates and prosecutors urged the change while a technology trade group recommended targeted liability and knowledge standards.
House Judiciary Committee members heard testimony on House Bill 5 on Tuesday, a bill that would update Maryland's criminal code so that "child sexual abuse material" explicitly covers computer-generated and artificial-intelligence content that depicts sexual abuse of children.
Proponents told the committee that the state's current language leaves a gap for modern, computer-generated images. "This is a modernization of our language that sends a clear message," said Lisa Jordan, Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, praising the sponsor and the change to the term "child sexual abuse materials." Joyce King, chief counsel at the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office, added that survivors' voices matter: "This is an important change, for those victims to call this child sexual abuse material."
The bill sponsor explained an amendment would replace earlier wording throughout the code with the phrase "child sexual abuse materials" to align with federal terminology and with how victim advocates prefer the conduct to be described. Supporters said the change would not criminalize consensual activity and would not alter the elements prosecutors must prove; rather it would close what several witnesses called a loophole that could allow offenders to claim computer-generated images were outside the statute.
Margaret Durkin, Mid-Atlantic executive director for trade group TechNet, told the committee she and her members were "favorable with amendments," urging the committee to focus liability on bad actors rather than on platforms and to include an actual-knowledge standard so well-intentioned research and prevention work is not chilled. Durkin pointed committee members to suggested language that would exempt interactive computer services consistent with federal law while preserving remedies against the creators and distributors of exploitative content.
Prosecutors and advocates urged the committee to keep the statutory focus on protection of children. "While AI-generated images do not depict real children, they normalize and encourage the consumption of child sexual abuse material, putting real children at risk," a sponsor representative said during the hearing.
Committee members did not vote during the hearing. Sponsors said technical sponsor amendments were on file to standardize language and to mirror federal terms and that they would work with tech-sector witnesses on liability and mens rea language before the bill returns for committee consideration.
