JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As access to artificial intelligence expands, concerns are growing about the potential for individuals to fall victim to deepfakes.
In response, a bill championed by Jacksonville state Rep. Wyman Duggan is making its way through the Capitol, aiming to protect Floridians from the harmful effects of such technology.
This legislative effort follows a distressing incident involving a Jacksonville student who had a fake pornographic photo posted online.
Brooke Curry, 18 and daughter of former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, sat down with News4JAX’s Briana Brownlee and shared her harrowing experience.
She said she is slowly regaining control, which is a complete 180 because when the incident happened, she felt embarrassed, confused, and angry.
To make matters worse, she said not only was she trying to convince everyone it was fake, but it was a struggle to get the deep fake taken down.
This is why Duggan introduced Brooke’s Law.
Brooke Curry recounted the moment she discovered the deepfake.
“When I saw the photo, I was shocked at how real it looked,” Brooke said. “He basically just took a picture from my Instagram and put it through an AI generator, and it made me look completely nude.”
At just 16 years old, a minor and entering her junior year, Brooke was enjoying a game of pickleball with her friends when her life was turned upside down when notifications flooded her phone.
“I was scared, embarrassed, and angry,” she said. “Picking up my phone and seeing the message, ‘Hey, this kid posted a photo of you. I think it got leaked.‘”
The deepfake, created by a student from Fletcher High School whom she had never met, was already circulating online when Brooke learned of it.
“It was a completely random kid. I’ve never spoken to him; I never came in contact with him,” she said.
The feeling of helplessness intensified as she realized the image had been online for two hours before she was notified.
“It was scary. I didn’t know who had the photo. Everyone thought it was real. I had to go through the process of trying to convince people that it wasn’t real,” Brooke said. “Snapchat doesn’t have a way for you to report and get it taken down fast enough.”
Brooke hesitated to tell her parents about the incident because of embarrassment.
“Like any 16-year-old would be, I didn’t want them to think any different of me or think, ‘Is this real? What did you do to get this kid to post it?‘” she said.
Instead, her parents were understanding and used their resources to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for assistance.
Recognizing that not everyone has the same support, Brooke is grateful for the introduction of “Brooke’s Law” by Duggan (R-Jacksonville).
“This bill revises the provisions of Florida’s deepfake law, requiring covered platforms to remove altered depictions and copies of such depictions from that platform upon request of the victim,” Duggan explained.
The law may carry Brooke’s name, but anyone can fall victim to an AI-generated image. Brooke said she once felt helpless, but now this law helps her feel like she has regained control.
“Before this, I tried my best not to talk about what happened to me just because I didn’t want the conversation happening. But now, seeing all of the positive messages and different stories I’m hearing, I’m so happy I spoke out,” she said. “So many people go through this and won’t speak out, holding it in forever.”
The bill is expected to be discussed in the House’s special-order meeting this week.
