Maine lawmakers are working on legislation that would expand existing prohibitions on child sexual abuse material to include content generated using artificial intelligence.

Police, prosecutors and advocates weighed in Friday on a bill before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, saying existing statutes need to be updated to account for the development of technology that has made it easier for children to be sexually exploited.

“The issue of AI-generated child abuse material is certainly an important and urgent concern here in Maine,” said Rep. Amy Kuhn, D-Falmouth, the bill’s sponsor.

Other states have taken similar steps in recent years in response to the rise of artificial intelligence. There are 28 states that ban the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, according to multistate.ai, which tracks how state and local governments are responding to AI and related emerging technologies.

LD 524 is among hundreds of bills lawmakers carried over from the special session that concluded in June. Kuhn had originally proposed a more comprehensive measure on AI-generated sexual abuse material, part of which was split off and passed in a new law ensuring that AI-generated images fall under Maine’s existing “revenge porn” statute.

But she said lawmakers needed more time to work on the issue of child sexual abuse material.

The proposal before them updates Maine’s current laws prohibiting the creation, possession and dissemination of child sexual abuse material to cover situations in which the material is digitally created. The new definitions would cover images of real children that have been manipulated, as well as images that are completely digitally fabricated.

Most of the testimony lawmakers heard Friday and that was submitted online favored the proposal, though the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers testified against the bill, saying it is “well-intentioned but dangerously overbroad.”

The association raised concerns about ambiguity in some of the bill language and said it could violate the First Amendment in cases that don’t involve an actual child.

“Federal and state agencies already possess robust tools to prosecute offenders,” the association said in written testimony. “This bill adds sweeping new categories of offense without evidence that such expansion is necessary, enforceable, or constitutionally sound.”

Maine State Police, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, the Maine Prosecutors’ Association and the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault all testified in support of the bill.

Lt. Jason Richards, who oversees Maine State Police’s special victims unit, told the committee AI-generated or enhanced images and videos are being used to exploit children in ways not seen before.

“LD 524 provides a manner for this conduct to be investigated and, if appropriate, for people to be held accountable for using this technology to exploit children,” Richards said.

Melissa Martin of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault said sexual abuse images can be “incredibly challenging” to remove from the internet.

“So we really need the criminal legal system and criminal statutes in order to have appropriate intervention and deterrents,” she said.

Martin also responded to questions from some lawmakers about whether additional resources are needed for victims, saying that while there is always a need for more support, the associated cost could be a deterrent to getting the bill passed.

“We really want this bill to pass and to be able to close this gap,” she said.

Friday’s hearing comes as lawmakers are still more than a month away from the start of the 2nd regular session, though their work is likely to pick up ahead of January. Legislative leaders have set a Jan. 30 deadline for committees to complete work on carried over bills, and have encouraged them to schedule meetings this month and next to meet the deadline.