Law / United States / 
Hawaii
Promoting Child Abuse, computer-generated child pornography
Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 707-750 to 707-752
In force since .
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
- Setting the rule reaches
- General
What it requires
- Do not produce, disseminate, or possess any visual representation, including a computer-generated or AI-generated image or picture, that depicts what appears to be an identifiable minor engaging in sexual conduct, whether or not any real minor was used to create it.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 3.3Targeted application scope is specified and documented based on the system’s capability, established context, and AI system categorization.
- NIST AI 600-1
- GAI-RISK-08Information Integrity
- GAI-RISK-11Obscene, Degrading, and/or Abusive Content
- MIT mitigations Draft
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-PREV-005System Acceptance Testing
- ETSI EN 304 223
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
Identifiers refer to ETSI EN 304 223 V2.1.1 (2025-12), © ETSI 2025, all rights reserved. ETSI owns the standard; no ETSI text (titles or sentences) is reproduced here. The standard is free to download from ETSI.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Producing qualifying material is promoting child abuse in the first degree, a class A felony (fine up to $50,000, up to 20 years imprisonment under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 706-640, 706-659); disseminating it, or possessing thirty or more qualifying images meeting an aggravating criterion, is the second degree, a class B felony (fine up to $25,000, up to 10 years under §§ 706-640, 706-660); simple possession is the third degree, a class C felony (fine up to $10,000, up to 5 years under §§ 706-640, 706-660).
Penalty structure
Maximum fine varies by degree: first degree (production) class A felony up to $50,000 and up to 20 years imprisonment; second degree (dissemination, or possession of 30 or more qualifying images meeting an aggravating criterion) class B felony up to $25,000 and up to 10 years; third degree (simple possession) class C felony up to $10,000 and up to 5 years, under Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 706-640, 706-659, 706-660.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 50,000
What it makes you log
Logging duty
This is a criminal offense definition. It states no duty for anyone to create, keep, or produce a log or record of anything.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Hawaii's promoting-child-abuse statute defines "child pornography" to include any pornographic visual representation, including a "computer or computer-generated image or picture," where either the production used a real minor or the image "has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexual conduct," reaching an AI-generated or AI-altered depiction with no real minor involved at all.
Producing such material is promoting child abuse in the first degree (class A felony); disseminating it, or possessing thirty or more qualifying images, is the second degree (class B felony); simple possession is the third degree (class C felony). This computer-generated language was added by 2002 Session Laws Act 200 to address, in the legislature's words, "the problem of utilizing computer technology in committing crimes against children."
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates images with AI, generates video with AI or publishes adult content.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .