Protect Children From AI-Generated CSAM: Urge DOJ and Congress to Act
The Issue
On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354.
The court affirmed the dismissal of one federal possession charge, holding that 18 U.S.C. § 1466A(b)(1) was unconstitutional as applied to the private, in-home possession at issue in this case. The government conceded that the charged images did not depict an actual child and could not be linked to one.
The ruling did not legalize all AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Charges involving production, distribution, and transfer of such material to a minor remained intact.
But the decision raises an urgent question:
Have our laws and constitutional precedents kept pace with artificial intelligence?
The Supreme Court cases relied upon by the Seventh Circuit were decided before today’s generative-AI technology existed in its current form. The Seventh Circuit itself recognized that modern AI can create virtual depictions that are virtually indistinguishable from imagery involving the abuse of actual children. The court explained that it was bound by Supreme Court precedent and could not redraw those constitutional lines on its own.
Two judges separately stated that additional guidance from the Supreme Court would be useful because of the dramatic advances in AI-generated imagery.
This matters even when an identifiable real child does not appear in the finished image.
Modern AI has blurred a distinction that was much clearer when the Supreme Court considered virtual CSAM nearly twenty-five years ago. As the Seventh Circuit recognized, today’s technology can generate virtual CSAM that is virtually indistinguishable from imagery depicting the abuse of actual children. That technological change deserves serious consideration by Congress and, in an appropriate case, the Supreme Court.
The constitutional questions are real. So is the need to protect children.
We therefore call on the United States Department of Justice to pursue every appropriate and lawful avenue for further review of the possession ruling in United States v. Anderegg, including Supreme Court review if appropriate.
We call on the United States Congress to:
• Hold hearings examining AI-generated CSAM and the challenges modern generative AI creates for child protection and law enforcement.
• Build a current factual and legislative record reflecting what generative AI can actually do today.
• Enact the strongest constitutionally defensible federal protections addressing the production, distribution, receipt, and possession of AI-generated CSAM.
• Examine whether existing federal laws provide adequate tools to address the risks created by increasingly realistic synthetic abuse material.
We also urge policymakers and technology companies to strengthen safeguards designed to prevent generative-AI systems from being used to create sexual abuse material depicting children.
Protecting children in the age of artificial intelligence should not be a partisan issue.
We are not asking Congress to ignore the Constitution, and we are not asking lawmakers to simply “overturn” a court decision.
We are asking our government to confront a rapidly changing technology, build a modern evidentiary record, pursue appropriate judicial review, and determine how far lawful protections can go before this problem becomes even harder to address.
Technology has changed. The law must be prepared to confront what comes next.
Source: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354 (August 25, 2026):
54
The Issue
On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354.
The court affirmed the dismissal of one federal possession charge, holding that 18 U.S.C. § 1466A(b)(1) was unconstitutional as applied to the private, in-home possession at issue in this case. The government conceded that the charged images did not depict an actual child and could not be linked to one.
The ruling did not legalize all AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Charges involving production, distribution, and transfer of such material to a minor remained intact.
But the decision raises an urgent question:
Have our laws and constitutional precedents kept pace with artificial intelligence?
The Supreme Court cases relied upon by the Seventh Circuit were decided before today’s generative-AI technology existed in its current form. The Seventh Circuit itself recognized that modern AI can create virtual depictions that are virtually indistinguishable from imagery involving the abuse of actual children. The court explained that it was bound by Supreme Court precedent and could not redraw those constitutional lines on its own.
Two judges separately stated that additional guidance from the Supreme Court would be useful because of the dramatic advances in AI-generated imagery.
This matters even when an identifiable real child does not appear in the finished image.
Modern AI has blurred a distinction that was much clearer when the Supreme Court considered virtual CSAM nearly twenty-five years ago. As the Seventh Circuit recognized, today’s technology can generate virtual CSAM that is virtually indistinguishable from imagery depicting the abuse of actual children. That technological change deserves serious consideration by Congress and, in an appropriate case, the Supreme Court.
The constitutional questions are real. So is the need to protect children.
We therefore call on the United States Department of Justice to pursue every appropriate and lawful avenue for further review of the possession ruling in United States v. Anderegg, including Supreme Court review if appropriate.
We call on the United States Congress to:
• Hold hearings examining AI-generated CSAM and the challenges modern generative AI creates for child protection and law enforcement.
• Build a current factual and legislative record reflecting what generative AI can actually do today.
• Enact the strongest constitutionally defensible federal protections addressing the production, distribution, receipt, and possession of AI-generated CSAM.
• Examine whether existing federal laws provide adequate tools to address the risks created by increasingly realistic synthetic abuse material.
We also urge policymakers and technology companies to strengthen safeguards designed to prevent generative-AI systems from being used to create sexual abuse material depicting children.
Protecting children in the age of artificial intelligence should not be a partisan issue.
We are not asking Congress to ignore the Constitution, and we are not asking lawmakers to simply “overturn” a court decision.
We are asking our government to confront a rapidly changing technology, build a modern evidentiary record, pursue appropriate judicial review, and determine how far lawful protections can go before this problem becomes even harder to address.
Technology has changed. The law must be prepared to confront what comes next.
Source: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354 (August 25, 2026):
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Petition created on September 7, 2026