Lawmakers consider harms of artificial intelligence, social media, particularly for children | News
Lawmakers consider harms of artificial intelligence, social media, particularly for children | News
Publish Date: 2026-03-03 00:00:00
Source Domain: www.griffindailynews.com
ATLANTA — Concern about the effects of algorithms and artificial intelligence has been driving an onslaught of legislation at the Georgia General Assembly.
Lawmakers have unleashed more than half a dozen bills that would hold companies or individuals to account for the way they deploy these computational tools, especially when used to connect children with obscenity, erode privacy or exploit identities.
“There are artificial intelligence platforms that allow a person to take an ordinary photograph of someone — your wife, your daughter, your coworker, your friend — and with a few clicks digitally remove their clothing to fabricate an explicit image,” said Sen. Bo Hatchett, R-Cornelia, while presenting his artificial intelligence restraint bill on the Senate floor last month. “It’s being used as a bullying tactic in schools. It’s being used for revenge, and it’s being used to destroy reputations. As a father of daughters, I cannot ignore that.”
Senate Bill 398 would make “virtual peeping” a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The maximum prison term would double when a manipulated image depicts a minor.
The Senate passed it 48-1 last month. It was a rare bipartisan vote that revealed the depth of concern about the tools that tech companies have been handing the public.
Georgia lawmakers have been trying to address child safety online since at least 2024 when they passed a law to limit social media companies’ access to children.
The industry sued in federal court in Atlanta and convinced a judge to block enforcement, asserting the law violated First Amendment speech protections.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones backed that measure. The Republican then empaneled a bipartisan Senate committee to study the issue.
Sen. Sally Harrell, D-Atlanta, co-chaired the committee with a Republican senator. She said she became…
