France's National Assembly is considering draft legislation announced in mid-August 2024 that would make the production, possession and distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse material a criminal offence punishable by up to seven years in prison and fines of up to €100,000. The bill responds to an acknowledged gap in existing law, which criminalises photographic and video depictions of real children but does not explicitly address synthetic or algorithmically generated imagery, and follows a surge in reports of deepfake abuse targeting minors.
Legislative prohibition establishes liability but does not prevent the creation or private circulation of synthetic material before it is detected and reported. Guardii's anti-CSAM detection module, which covers both photographic and AI-generated imagery, scans direct-message exchanges in real time on Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, blocking or flagging illegal content at the moment of transmission and enabling immediate escalation to law enforcement. The technology intercepts material in private channels where manual moderation and retrospective reporting are ineffective, addressing the enforcement gap that criminal statutes alone cannot close.
