‘Realistic’ AI-generated child porn in Japan sparks debate on legal loophole and ‘kawaii’ culture
- Activists warn of a link between depictions of pornography involving children and young people being lured into the sex industry
- Politicians are reluctant to intervene as any ban affecting freedom of speech or artistic rights in the comic and anime industry could require amending the constitution
Japanese technology companies are reportedly taking advantage of a loophole in domestic laws to create and share lifelike AI images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Children’s rights campaigners have condemned the trend, but say Japan’s politicians are reluctant to intervene. Courts previously ruled the industry was protected under the constitution’s position on the freedom of speech and artistic rights, because the pictures were not of real children.
The “flood” of AI-generated child pornography available in Japan has been highlighted in a series of articles in major Japanese daily Yomiuri this week.
Fujiko Yamada, who founded the Child Maltreatment Centre in Kanagawa Prefecture 25 years ago, accused Japanese politicians of letting the nation’s children down and warned of a link between depictions of pornography involving children and young people being lured into the sex industry.
“By law, child pornography is illegal in Japan, but the law only covers photos and videos of real people and it does not include drawn images or anything created by AI, no matter how realistic it is,” she told This Week in Asia.
Yomiuri reported that more than 3,000 images of children being sexually abused were so sophisticated that many were indistinguishable from actual photos. Such material was reportedly being uploaded monthly by an Osaka-based tech company. The firm’s website is accessible worldwide and has 100,000 registered users, generating more than 2 million hits every month.