Argentina court rules AI-generated child sexual abuse images are criminal
Argentina's Cámara de Apelaciones y Garantías en lo Penal del Departamento Judicial Zárate-Campana ruled that creating images of child sexual abuse using artificial intelligence is a criminal offense under Article 128 of the Penal Code, even when no real identified victims exist. The court determined that AI-generated abuse material causes equivalent harm to actual abuse images.
What happened
The Cámara de Apelaciones y Garantías en lo Penal del Departamento Judicial Zárate-Campana issued a ruling that AI-generated images of child sexual abuse are criminal under Article 128 of the Argentine Penal Code. The case originated from accusations against a man of publishing and distributing representations of minors under 18 in sexual activities, aggravated by depictions of minors under 13.
The defendant's defense argued that no real victims had been proven to exist and that the content could have been digitally generated or altered using AI or CGI, contending that Article 128 protects only real victims and does not penalize fictional representations. The judges rejected this argument, holding that the term 'representation' in Article 128, as reformed by Law 27.436, encompasses any depiction of minors in sexual situations regardless of how it was created.
Reported impact
The court found that observation of the videos and photographs showed children aged between 3 and 13 years, despite lack of identification of specific victims. The judges determined that AI-generated child sexual abuse images cause the same harm as real abuse material.
Index analysis
Article 128 of the Argentine Penal Code, reformed in 2018 by Law 27.436, was interpreted to include digital content and representations of minors in sexual situations as crimes. The court established a legal precedent by clarifying that 'representation' means an image or idea that substitutes for reality, applying this definition to AI-generated content.
Classification
Sources and evidence
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