Lawmakers Propose Making Criminal Use of AI an Aggravating Circumstance

Members of the “A Just Russia — For Truth” party have prepared draft law No. 885494-8, which proposes classifying the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for criminal purposes as an aggravating circumstance. The relevant provision is intended to be added to Article 63 of the Russian Criminal Code, “Circumstances Aggravating Punishment.” The co-authors of the bill are party leader Sergey Mironov and Yana Lantratova, head of the State Duma Committee on Civil Society Development.

Mr. Mironov believes that tightening the law will help create additional legal mechanisms to protect citizens. He identified the use of deepfakes as one of the most dangerous types of fraud, noting that such technologies are used for discrediting individuals and gaining access to other people’s money.

The idea to consider the use of AI as an aggravating circumstance was first proposed in March by Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia. He presented this initiative at a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the government, where the president called the proposal “interesting.”

Since February, the Ministry of Digital Development has been discussing with law enforcement agencies the recognition of deepfake use as an aggravating circumstance for fraudsters. The ministry also supports the creation of products capable of detecting voice forgery in real time.