# Seventh Circuit Shields In-Home AI Virtual CSAM Possession While Production, Distribution, and Transfer Charges Stand
*Canonical page:* https://truthscore.com/source/f6032160
*Machine twins:* https://truthscore.com/source/f6032160.md · JSON at https://truthscore.com/api/v1

Publisher: reddit.com · published 2026-08-29 · read 2026-08-31

Original: https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1w1ni41/

*A source is testimony, not proof. The document itself is never republished here.*

## Who is named (12)

- [John Z. Lee](https://truthscore.com/entity/05b89b25)
- [National Center for Missing and Exploited Children](https://truthscore.com/entity/08771537)
- [Supreme Court](https://truthscore.com/entity/0de501c0)
- [Joshua P. Kolar](https://truthscore.com/entity/2780be98)
- [James D. Peterson](https://truthscore.com/entity/3673f132)
- [Stable Diffusion](https://truthscore.com/entity/48c36b68)
- [Doris L. Pryor](https://truthscore.com/entity/54a45739)
- [Department of Justice](https://truthscore.com/entity/5710be16)
- [Instagram](https://truthscore.com/entity/8d7ba336)
- [Seventh Circuit](https://truthscore.com/entity/c87f812c)
- [Steven Anderegg](https://truthscore.com/entity/d77bd0c6)
- [Congress](https://truthscore.com/entity/e99c9d31)

## What it added

- [The Seventh Circuit held that 18 U.S.C. § 1466A(b)(1) is unconstitutional as applied to private, in‑home possession of obscene AI‑generated imagery that does…](https://truthscore.com/claim/c33d9e8c)
  > The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held on August 25, 2026, in United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354, that 18 U.S.C. § 1466A(b)(1) is unconstitutional as applied to private, in‑home possession of obscene AI‑generated imagery that does not depict an actual child.
- [Judge John Z. Lee, joined by Judges Doris L. Pryor and Joshua P. Kolar, treated Stanley v. Georgia and Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition as binding.](https://truthscore.com/claim/3143356c)
  > Judge John Z. Lee, joined by Judges Doris L. Pryor and Joshua P. Kolar, treated Stanley v. Georgia (1969) and Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002) as binding: the government may not criminalize what a person keeps at home when no real minor was used in production.
- [Osborne v. Ohio and New York v. Ferber did not control because those cases rest on harm to actual children.](https://truthscore.com/claim/c7fd68c1)
  > Osborne v. Ohio (1990) and New York v. Ferber (1982) did not control because those cases rest on harm to actual children.
- [Open‑source image models such as Stable Diffusion can be run locally and can generate photorealistic virtual CSAM.](https://truthscore.com/claim/7e0bd03c)
  > Open‑source image models such as Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion can be run locally; the same stack that generates ordinary pictures also generates photorealistic virtual CSAM.
- [The Department of Justice charged Steven Anderegg with producing and distributing the material and with transferring it to a minor under sixteen.](https://truthscore.com/claim/3a093049)
  > The Department of Justice charged the Holmen, Wisconsin software engineer in the Western District of Wisconsin (3:24‑cr‑00050) with producing and distributing the material and with transferring it to a minor under sixteen.
- [Chief Judge James D. Peterson dismissed only the possession count and the Seventh Circuit affirmed that dismissal, leaving the other counts intact.](https://truthscore.com/claim/b14da740)
  > Chief Judge James D. Peterson dismissed only the possession count; the Seventh Circuit affirmed that narrow dismissal and left the other counts intact.
- [Meta’s Instagram reported messages to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, leading investigators to the case.](https://truthscore.com/claim/2d837c84)
  > The case reached investigators after Meta’s Instagram reported messages to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
- [The investigative pipeline of platform tip, NCMEC CyberTipline, search warrant, and devices still applies to production, distribution, and contact with a real…](https://truthscore.com/claim/2d2ab989)
  > That pipeline—platform tip, NCMEC CyberTipline, search warrant, devices—still applies to production, distribution, and contact with a real child.
- [Morphed images that alter a photograph of an actual child remain fully prosecutable.](https://truthscore.com/claim/e0b57c44)
  > Morphed images that alter a photograph of an actual child remain fully prosecutable.
- [The panel’s legal line is that possession of wholly synthetic files that stay inside the house is not a license to make, share, or send them.](https://truthscore.com/claim/fba9eb48)
  > The legal line the panel drew is possession of wholly synthetic files that stay inside the house, not a license to make, share, or send them.
- [Lee wrote that today’s generative models can render images “virtually indistinguishable” from records of actual abuse, a capability “likely unimaginable” when…](https://truthscore.com/claim/03ddd3c6)
  > Lee wrote that today’s generative models can render images “virtually indistinguishable” from records of actual abuse, a capability “likely unimaginable” when Free Speech Coalition was decided.
- [Lee and Kolar concurred that the Supreme Court should revisit the intersection of the First Amendment and virtual CSAM if a proper case arrives.](https://truthscore.com/claim/b4aaace8)
  > He and Kolar concurred that the Supreme Court should revisit the intersection of the First Amendment and virtual CSAM if a proper case arrives.
- [They noted research that some training sets have contained real CSAM, a link the government did not develop on the record.](https://truthscore.com/claim/5c1b8a92)
  > They also noted research that some training sets have contained real CSAM, a link the government did not develop on this record.
- [Congress and state legislatures have moved in the opposite direction of the panel’s result, with federal obscenity statutes still reaching production and…](https://truthscore.com/claim/34d786be)
  > Congress and state legislatures have moved in the opposite direction of the panel’s result: federal obscenity statutes still reach production and distribution of virtual depictions, and multiple states have enacted statutes aimed at AI‑generated CSAM.
- [A possession carve‑out in one circuit invites forum‑shopping, harder proof that a file depicts a real child, and pressure on platforms and Stability AI‑class…](https://truthscore.com/claim/ac596c86)
  > A possession carve‑out in one circuit invites forum‑shopping, harder proof that a file depicts a real child, and pressure on platforms and Stability AI‑class vendors whose tools are dual‑use by design.
- [Oversight remains after‑the‑fact prosecution of production, distribution, and transfer, plus whatever the Supreme Court or Congress does next.](https://truthscore.com/claim/9a87d772)
  > Oversight remains after‑the‑fact prosecution of production, distribution, and transfer, plus whatever the Supreme Court or Congress does next.
- [The panel said it was not free to redraw the lines and asked for new guidance.](https://truthscore.com/claim/a6494d5a)
  > The panel itself said it was not free to redraw the lines and asked for new guidance.
- [The conduct still faces three live federal counts in Steven Anderegg’s case.](https://truthscore.com/claim/beedba52)
  > The conduct still faces three live federal counts in Anderegg’s case.
- [A First Amendment holding about what may sit on a hard drive at home does not erase the harm model, the training‑data problem, or the fact that sending the…](https://truthscore.com/claim/940a6d84)
  > A First Amendment holding about what may sit on a hard drive at home does not erase the harm model, the training‑data problem, or the fact that sending the same files to a real minor remains a crime.

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