Virginia has made an important addition to its revenge porn law to now include deepfakes. The problem of morphed faces on other images and videos using deepfake technology has been on a rise. The new update in the law went into effect from Monday, July 1. The law now states that anyone who shares or sells nude or sexual images and videos to "coerce, harass, or intimidate" is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Virginia's revenge porn law has been since the year 2014, but it did not include fabricated material. So sharing photoshopped nude images and videos for revenge porn is now a crime. Fake Porn Videos Are Used as Blackmail: Deepfake Technology Makes it Easy to Create Doctored XXX Videos.

Today with the access and invention of new technology, it is easier to morph anyone's face on anyone else, hardly making it difficult to spot. The advances in software have made it possible to make deepfake imagery, which has been used to porn videos. The Virginia General Assembly passed the updated bill in March. The passing of the law is important as it makes Virginia one of the first places to make laws for technology. Violating the law can lead up to 12 months in prison and up to $2,500 in fines. Scarlett Johansson Deepfake XXX Videos Go Viral, Avengers: Endgame Actress Says It’s 'Fruitless' to Fight Against Fake Porn Footages.

Now Virginia's federal legislation now includes fake videos and pictures that makes an exact copy of the person. As per the bill, anyone creating synthetic media content that imitates a person to disclose that it’s altered or generated, using "irremovable digital watermarks, as well as textual descriptions." Deepfake porn has been a problem to tackle on the internet, so it is good to make it a part of the legislation. This law would give the victims of such revenge porn to sue the creators. A few days ago, DeepNude, an application that used the AI-powered technology to create fake nude pictures of women also shut down. The application went viral and raised concerns about its misuse. And has been now shut down completely.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2019 06:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).