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Law / United States / Maryland

Computer-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material

Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §11-208

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 knowingly possess and intentionally retain, or knowingly and intentionally access and view, a visual representation, including a computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual and identifiable child under 16, that shows the child in sadomasochistic abuse, sexual conduct, or a state of sexual excitement.
  • A first violation is a misdemeanor; a second or later violation is a felony.
  • It is an affirmative defense that the person promptly and in good faith took reasonable steps to destroy the image or reported it to a law enforcement agency.

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
MIT mitigations Draft
  • 1.5Safety Decision Frameworks
  • 3.3Access Management
FINOS AIGF
ETSI EN 304 223
  • 5.1.2-1Business need and security risks written down and assessed before deciding to build an AI system.
  • 5.1.4-5End-users told which uses of the system are prohibited.

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

First violation is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $2,500, or both; a second or subsequent violation is a felony punishable by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.

What it makes you log

Logging duty

Section 11-208 defines a computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child and states the elements of the possession and viewing offenses. It imposes no duty to log, record, or otherwise document anything, and its only record-adjacent provision is an affirmative defense for a person who destroys the material or reports it to law enforcement, which describes an option available to a defendant rather than a duty.

Kind
None
As of

What this law does

Drafted with AI

Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page. How this site is made

Research summary

Legal information, not legal advice. This is LexLint's own research summary of a public legal source, and it creates no attorney-client relationship. For decisions that matter, consult qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. About LexLint

Maryland's child pornography statute defines an image indistinguishable from an actual and identifiable child to include a computer-generated image created, adapted, or modified to appear as an actual and identifiable child, reaching AI-generated child sexual abuse material on the same terms as a real photograph.

A person may not knowingly possess and retain, or knowingly access and view, such a visual representation of a child under 16 engaged in sadomasochistic abuse, sexual conduct, or a state of sexual excitement. A first violation is a misdemeanor and a second or later violation is a felony.

When LexLint raises it

When your app profile says your app generates images with AI or generates video with AI.

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