When the culture and the legal system that is supposed to punish illegal activity like this, fails to do its job, the message to each individual is clear if not codified.
Behave as you want, because your leadership controls the information coming out to the wider world. Journalists are intimidated and killed.
If you are discovered, you will be quietly reassigned but not actually disciplined. Protests from the UN or other nations are dismissed using various tired phrases or tactics.
If you actually go to trial, the state will bow to pressure from the public and government officials and not sufficiently punish you for even crimes like murder. 18 months for a summary execution that was clearly premeditated and filmed. It doesn’t matter if the prosecution proves mens rea or that you were filmed loading a weapon first before slow walking over to your victim. You will get a downgraded charge to manslaughter and the broad public will push for your immediate release.
In some ways, I’m very excited about the sociological and economic opportunities for change this kind of scenario brings. And far, farrr more horrified. I haven’t yet seen a meaningful or impactful use of AI yet, that doesn’t mainly further capitalists or state power over their own or other civilians.
The future is cyberpunk, and Gibson started that as a sci-fi horror show future to avoid. Congress knows that Meta/Zucc influenced the 2016 election via ML/AI targeted ands and did basically nothing.