For better or worse, AI is transforming the world. On the plus side, it’s now easy to generate videos of squirrels doing the Macarena and pictures of yourself hanging out with Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the downside, it’s putting millions of people out of work, consuming a ridiculous amount of precious natural resources, and eroding the very concept of truth. So, a mixture of good and bad.
Lawmakers across the world are grappling with how to regulate AI, but Minnesota lawmakers just took a firm cross-party stance on something that frankly shouldn’t need to be debated.
A few days ago, they voted on bill HF1606, which is designed to ban AI “nudification” tech, with Rep. Jessica Hanson arguing:
“We need to ban nudification features because they allow users to create non-consensual, unauthorized deep fakes of sexually explicit content, including child sexual abuse material.”
Of the 134 members of the Minnesota House of Representatives, 132 of them voted for this bill, a rare instance of Republicans and Democrats uniting in cross-party consensus that using AI to generate naked images of adults and children without their consent should be illegal. One member was absent, and one member was the sole “No” vote.
Roach by name…
Republican Rep. Drew Roach apparently decided that this was the hill he was willing to die on, making a somewhat flimsy case that the bill won’t solve the problem. He explained:
“What we’re going to do here is we’re going to attack a software, a manufacturer and instead, shifting our focus on that instead of the perpetrators of these crimes. If we want to prevent this from happening in the future, we should go after those perpetrators with the full force of the law.”
His confused colleagues pointed out that HF1606 goes after the root cause, with Rep. Hanson patiently explaining that existing criminal law already goes after perpetrators.
Judging by the replies, it’s safe to say Roach may have picked the wrong cause to champion:
— Jamezz (@jamezz212) April 28, 2026
To the guy who voted no pic.twitter.com/XRnxZxa0YI
— Rob (@Panfriedpuppies) April 28, 2026
check his drives, check his phones, check his couch cushions for printed photos, check his socials, check his chat history, calls, messages, check for his name in the files, and if even one red flag pops up, make sure the next person checking him and sorting him is God.
— LivingTopHat (slots open!) (@_LivingTopHat_) April 29, 2026
Then again, given Roach’s legislative record, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. He has apparently crusaded to get Minnesota’s ban on conversion therapy for gay people lifted:
GOP lawmaker to introduce bill repealing Minnesota’s ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) September 3, 2025
"The government has no business mandating what outcomes people must pursue in the privacy of their counseling sessions," said Rep. Drew Roach. pic.twitter.com/5cNy55HKtO
He also believes Jan. 6 was “a hoax”:
VIDEO: MNGOP Sen. Bill Lieske and Rep. Drew Roach said that January 6th was a "hoax" staged by "actors." They are lying. pic.twitter.com/41ZrLuyRVc
— Minnesota DFL (@MinnesotaDFL) April 9, 2025
Nominative determinism is a heck of a thing, so in this case, we have to wonder what rock Roach is going to scuttle under next. Will he advocate for every Minnesota schoolchild to open carry? Perhaps a bill mandating toxic waste be dumped in the drinking water reservoir? Ooh, how about a statue of Greg Bovino in downtown Minneapolis?
