I’m dropping this here. I don’t know to what extent military law aligns with or supports civil liberties.
Claims of commingling actual images with AI are popular enough to make me wonder whether the claim is false.
The article contains this.
Put simply, CSAM generated by AI is still CSAM[…]
The X link is here. x.com
“As alleged, Seth Herrera possessed thousands of images depicting the violent sexual abuse of children, including infants. He also allegedly used AI to create images depicting the sexual exploitation of children he knew,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Sexualizing or modifying images based on the likenesses of real children is a step too far, and one that constitutes actual CSEM.
I hope these types of charges remain limited to those who are an active, real threat to children (i.e. are caught with real CSAM, are trying to solicit sexual interactions with real minors, etc.).
AI CSAM is only CSAM if it implicates or depicts a real minor, or it’s produced from images that depict it (i.e. a model is trained from real CSAM). The DoJ knows this.
Really? Is that a fact?
I recently learned of this law.
I used Perplexity AI to obtain a summary.
Summary of 18 U.S. Code § 242
Overview
18 U.S.C. § 242 makes it a federal crime for anyone acting under the authority of law (such as police officers, judges, or other public officials) to willfully deprive a person of rights protected by the U.S. Constitution and federal laws.
Key Elements
Acting Under Color of Law: The offender must use their official authority to commit the act.
Willful Deprivation: The act must be intentional and purposeful.
Protected Rights: The statute safeguards rights related to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and alienage, among others.
Penalties
Basic violations can result in fines and imprisonment for up to one year.
If bodily injury or death occurs, imprisonment can extend up to 10 years or life.
Defense Strategies
Lack of Willfulness: Arguing the defendant did not intentionally violate rights.
Mistake of Fact: Claiming the defendant believed they were acting within their authority.
Relevant Statutes
42 U.S.C. § 1983: Civil action for deprivation of rights.
42 U.S.C. § 1981: Equal rights under the law.
42 U.S.C. § 14141: Addresses patterns or practices of civil rights violations.
This text provides a comprehensive overview of the legal framework and implications of 18 U.S.C. § 242.
There is also this.
Military law, UCMJ stuff is sort of a parallel track with civilian law. Military authorities have to comply with all local laws but also the UCMJ has several rules regarding things that aren’t “laws” per se in the civilian sense but would be considered so in the military. I’ll use an experience from my career as an example.
I got caught using K2/spice on base. Since this was in a state where that was legal, I couldn’t be charged with a crime by the military for getting caught with it, however I did receive the military “catch-all” for this eventuality: UCMJ Article 15 “Non-judicial punishment” basically I did not follow the commander’s lawful order to not do K2, so I got hit with 30 days base restriction, twelve hours days seven days a week for that month doing cleaning and chow hall duty, and an “offer” that I couldn’t really refuse to leave the service about three months earlier than my enlistment ended.
Even IF they get past the obscenity thing civilian-wise this guy is in for an extremely shitty time. I remember a guy who got caught with (a lot of) actual for real CSAM who was from Public Affairs or something but got placed out of his unit as a secretary/bitch boy for the flight line crew chief section while he was going through his court martial. It was a regular occurrence for the CCs to make the guy cry several times a day. But he also used bad shit that exploited real kids so fuck him.
Anyway, hope that somewhat clears things up for everyone.
@Some_Guy Did you ever see anyone getting charged for drawings alone during your military days? How likely was it you would be charged under the general article vs obscenity law?
The only two I ever saw was a MSgt who got caught with a 16 year old, and that guy that got detailed to the crew chiefs.
To be totally honest, with fictional materials I would guess it would be treated with the same level as the real thing. But I was never in that position, so I couldn’t really say and I have never heard of anyone being sent up for that. From a military perspective they would be looking for the max possible they could get away with. One thing that has to be taken into acct is unit cohesion. No one is gonna want to lay down their life for their combat buddy if that buddy is known to be a MAP. And yes… everyone would know, almost immediately.
Oh I should have also said, I got to sit in on an actual Court Martial once and holy shit, you DO NOT under any circumstances want to go through that. Truly terrifying shit.
I dunno man, I’m of the opinion that anything beyond fictional material is no good because there are actual children involved.
Also, there was no taking advantage of people in foreign countries, this occurred in South Dakota. Also both of these guys were unrepentantly gross motherfuckers. Did I feel some pang of solidarity guilt having similar feelings and knowing how shitty it is? Sure… but that didn’t override my standing rule of never messing with actual children in anyway.