Supreme Court Upholds Criminal Penalties for AI-Generated Sexual Content Without Consent
Mexico's Supreme Court upheld criminal penalties of three to six years in prison for using AI to create and distribute non-consensual sexual imagery in Sinaloa. The Court rejected the federal government's challenge to the 2024 law, finding its definition of AI sufficiently clear within the context of sexual privacy crimes.
What happened
Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) upheld a 2024 reform to Sinaloa's Penal Code that criminalizes the use of artificial intelligence to create and distribute non-consensual sexual imagery. The Court voted 9 to 1 to reject an unconstitutionality challenge filed by the federal executive.
The law defines artificial intelligence in the context of sexual violence as "applications, programs or technology that analyze photographs, audio or video and offer automatic adjustments to make alterations or modifications." The statute targets the creation of false content with a realistic appearance that is shared without the victim's consent through any electronic means, with penalties ranging from three to six years in prison.
Index analysis
The federal executive had challenged the reform, arguing that the definition of artificial intelligence in the statute was imprecise and violated due process rights. However, the Court's majority, led by Minister Juan Luis Gonz谩lez Alc谩ntara, found the definition sufficiently clear within the context of the sexual privacy violation crime.
Governance controls
The reformed Article 185 Bis C of Sinaloa's Penal Code extends the crime of sexual privacy violation to specifically include the use of artificial intelligence to manipulate intimate sexual content without express, voluntary, and genuine consent. The statute aims to address digital violence through expanded criminal liability for this particular means of committing the offense.
Classification
Sources and evidence
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