Protecting privacy in the digital age — Guam lawmakers are taking aim at what they call a new frontier in sexual exploitation. Senator William Parkinson is proposing Bill 171, the Nonconsensual Intimate Depictions Act of 2025. The measure would make it a crime to create, possess, or share sexually explicit deepfake images without consent.

Parkinson says advances in artificial intelligence now allow offenders to take innocent photos — often from social media — and digitally transform them into pornographic images that appear real. He says while the photos are fake, the trauma for victims is real — and young women and girls are most often targeted.

Bureau of Women’s affairs director Jayne Flores testified that these acts can cause devastating psychological harm and urged lawmakers to close gaps in current law that fail to recognize ai-generated exploitation.

The bill also provides felony penalties for offenders, civil remedies for victims, and privacy safeguards for survivors seeking justice.

Senator Telo Taitague questioned whether the legislation could also compel websites to remove nonconsensual deepfakes, something addressed in a proposed federal measure known as the Take It Down Act.

Parkinson says the goal is simple — to ensure Guam’s laws keep pace with technology and reaffirm that consent still matters, even in the digital age.