Alaska House unanimously passes bill criminalizing AI-generated CSAM and curbing minors’ social media

The Alaska House unanimously passed House Bill 47 on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, creating new felony offenses for AI-generated child sexual abuse material and adding a suite of restrictions on minors’ use of social media that supporters say will close a legal gap for investigators. The measure makes distribution of AI-produced CSAM a Class B felony, upgradeable to Class A for repeat offenders, and possession a Class C felony, while removing the statute of limitations for distribution charges; the bill now heads to the Alaska Senate.

Rep. Sarah Vance (R-Homer), the bill’s prime sponsor, framed the legislation as a technical but necessary fix to allow prosecutors to pursue synthetic exploitative imagery. “Currently in statute, you have to prove the harm of an actual child,” she said. “What this bill does is say that anything that is generated obscene material of minors will be criminalized to the same level as if it were a real child.”

Law enforcement officials pushed the change after investigators encountered AI-produced child sexual abuse material in the state and found existing law offered no clear path to prosecution. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s digital forensics capacity was cited repeatedly during debate as evidence the state has technical ability to locate and analyze such material but lacked corresponding legal tools to hold creators and distributors accountable.

During floor debate lawmakers expanded HB47 beyond AI-generated CSAM. A series of amendments added limits on how adults may be depicted using AI and established civil liability for the generation and distribution of obscene sexual material involving adults as well as children. Legislators also inserted stricter controls on minors’ access to social media, a move that drew both support and sharp practical questions.

“AI is moving forward at lightning speed. Alaska is behind the curveball,” said Rep. Andrew Gray (Anchorage Democrat). “We really need guardrails as quickly as possible to protect children, first and foremost, but all of us.” Gray also warned of enforcement hurdles, noting that social media users may resist verifying age by submitting a driver’s license to a third-party and that users could circumvent state limits by accessing platforms through a Virtual Private Network, which masks browsing location.

Some members acknowledged the political costs of confronting major platforms. Rep. Dan Saddler (Eagle River Republican) warned that the social media amendment would pit the state against large tech companies, saying, “By passing this amendment, we would be going to war with Meta and TikTok and Instagram and Alphabet and a lot of organizations that have a lot of vested interest in maintaining the grip they have on our young people. That’s a battle I would like us to take on. It’s a battle I would like us to win.”

The bill drew unanimous, bipartisan support in the House even as lawmakers raised constitutional concerns about whether AI-created material meets the Miller obscenity test and whether new restrictions could run afoul of First Amendment protections. Critics also noted that legislators had limited direct input from social media companies before advancing the new limits.

HB47’s passage in the House follows a wider state-level push to regulate AI. Separate legislation introduced last year addresses election-related deepfake disclosures and governs state agencies’ use of consequential AI systems, signaling a broader Alaska effort to grapple with the legal and administrative challenges posed by artificial intelligence. The Senate must now weigh HB47 and its mix of criminal, civil, and regulatory measures before any final enactment.