On May 19, 2025, the Court of Criminal Appeals and Guarantees of Zárate – Campana upheld the first-instance ruling in the case “P., D. O. s/publicación y reproducción de imágenes pornográficas” and ordered the case to proceed to trial.
In its decision, the Chamber established that the publication and distribution of depictions of minors under the age of eighteen engaged in sexual activities fall within the scope of Section 128 of the Argentine Criminal Code, including both depictions of real individuals and those generated through artificial intelligence.
The Chamber conducted an analysis of Section 128 of the Criminal Code, with particular attention to the evolution of artificial intelligence tools capable of generating realistic images, promoting the child pornography industry.
As part of the applicable legal framework, the Chamber quoted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted by Act No. 23849), the Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (adopted by Act No. 25763), and the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (adopted by Act No. 27411). It highlighted that these international instruments served as the foundation for the most recent amendment to Section 128, which aimed to align domestic legislation with international standards on the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against all forms of sexual exploitation.
Furthermore, the Chamber emphasized that the expression “any depiction”, as used in the criminal provision, encompasses both real and simulated images of minors engaged in sexual conduct, regardless of whether they are created using artificial intelligence or other technological means.
On the other hand, the Court stated that excluding from criminal protection the images or sexual representations of minors that are generated or altered through new technologies would entail a dangerous normalization of pedophilia and, consequently, would put the freedom and integrity of children at risk.
In sum, this decision reaffirms the interpretation that the publication and distribution of sexual representations of minors—whether real or generated through artificial intelligence—may be covered by the scope of Section 128 of the Criminal Code.
