Deepfake laws at a glance
No single US law bans deepfakes. Instead, the law targets specific harms: sexual imagery made without consent, deception of voters, commercial use of someone's voice or likeness, and fraud. The table lists the main laws by level and type as of November 9, 2026.
| Law | Level | Covers | Criminal or civil | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAKE IT DOWN Act | Federal | Non-consensual intimate images, real or AI-generated; platform removal | Criminal, plus FTC enforcement against platforms | In force; removal duty since May 19, 2026 |
| DEFIANCE Act | Federal | Sexually explicit digital forgeries | Civil (right to sue) | Passed Senate; stalled in House |
| NO FAKES Act | Federal | Unauthorised digital replicas of voice or likeness | Civil | On Senate calendar; not passed |
| State intimate deepfake laws | 48 states | Sexual deepfakes of adults or minors | Criminal, civil or both, by state | In force |
| State election deepfake laws | 33 states | Deceptive AI media about candidates near elections | Mostly civil or disclosure-based; some criminal | In force, with court challenges |
| Right of publicity and voice laws | States | Commercial use of name, image, likeness, voice | Mostly civil; Tennessee also criminal | In force |
| TCPA (FCC ruling) | Federal | AI-generated voices in robocalls | Civil and regulatory | In force since February 2024 |
Criminal versus civil deepfake laws
A criminal law lets prosecutors charge the person who made or shared a deepfake, with fines or jail. A civil law lets the person depicted sue for damages or an injunction. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is criminal for individuals and regulatory for platforms. The pending DEFIANCE and NO FAKES Acts are civil. At state level, many intimate image laws are criminal while publicity laws are civil, and several states provide both.
Who the laws protect
Intimate image laws protect anyone depicted, with heavier penalties where the person is a minor. Election laws protect candidates and, indirectly, voters. Right of publicity and voice laws protect individuals from commercial exploitation of their identity, and the most recent ones, such as Tennessee's, expressly cover AI voice clones. Read our analysis of voice, likeness and publicity rights for the doctrine.
Is there a federal deepfake law?
Yes, one, aimed at intimate imagery. Two broader bills are pending.
TAKE IT DOWN Act
The TAKE IT DOWN Act, S. 146, was signed on May 19, 2025. Its criminal provisions took effect on signing. According to the Congressional Research Service, it makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate images of an identifiable person, including digital forgeries created or altered with AI, with up to two years in prison for offences involving adults and up to three years for minors. Threats to publish are also covered. Section 3 required covered platforms, by May 19, 2026, to set up a process for victims to request removal and to remove the image and known identical copies within 48 hours of a valid request. The FTC began enforcing that duty on May 19, 2026 and launched TakeItDown.ftc.gov for complaints about platforms that fail to act.
DEFIANCE Act
The DEFIANCE Act would create a federal civil right of action for people depicted in sexually explicit digital forgeries. The Senate passed it unanimously on January 13, 2026, with damages of at least USD 150,000 available to victims. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson said in September 2026 that consensus had not been built, and the bill stalled before the pre-election recess. The text is on Congress.gov as S. 1837.
NO FAKES Act
The NO FAKES Act would create a federal right to control digital replicas of a person's voice and visual likeness, with a notice-and-takedown system for online services and exclusions for news, commentary, parody and similar uses. The 2026 version is S. 4591. Husch Blackwell reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it unanimously on June 22, 2026 and that it proposes statutory damages of USD 5,000 to 25,000 per violating replica. It has not passed either chamber, and the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027.
AI deepfake laws by state
States moved first and still do most of the work. Ballotpedia's deepfake tracker counted, as of October 22, 2026, 48 states with laws on sexually explicit deepfakes and 33 states with laws on deepfakes in political communications.
Intimate image laws
Ballotpedia's August 2026 report found every state except Ohio and New Mexico had a law addressing sexual deepfakes. The laws differ in who they cover, whether they are criminal or civil, and what intent must be shown. Texas, for example, made it an offence in 2023 to produce or distribute a sexual deepfake video without the person's consent, according to the Texas Senate bill analysis for SB 1361. California's SB 926, signed in September 2024, extended its criminal law to realistic AI-generated intimate images, as Morrison Foerster's 2024 review describes. Victims also have the federal removal process described above.
Election deepfake laws
Most state election laws require a disclosure on AI-altered media about candidates within a set period before an election, or let candidates seek an injunction. They have been the most litigated. A federal judge struck down California's AB 2839 and AB 2655 in August 2025 in Kohls v. Bonta, as Bloomberg Law reported, and Ballotpedia records that a federal court permanently blocked Hawaii's law on January 30, 2026. A challenge by X Corp. to Minnesota's criminal election deepfake statute was narrowed in December 2025 when the court found X lacked standing for a pre-enforcement challenge.
Right of publicity and voice laws
All states recognise some form of right of publicity, but only a handful address AI replicas directly. Husch Blackwell counts eight: Tennessee, California, Illinois, New York, Utah, Arkansas, Montana and Washington. Tennessee's ELVIS Act, signed on March 21, 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, added voice to the state's publicity statute, reaches tools whose main purpose is producing unauthorised voice or likeness copies, and can be enforced as a Class A misdemeanour as well as through civil suits.
Deepfake fraud and impersonation
Deepfakes used to defraud are already illegal under general fraud, wire fraud and identity theft laws, whatever tool was used. Two federal agencies have added AI-specific rules on top.
The Federal Communications Commission ruled in February 2024 that AI-generated voices in calls count as "artificial or prerecorded voice" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so the consent rules for robocalls apply. Cooley's summary notes the ruling followed an AI robocall imitating President Biden before the New Hampshire primary. The Federal Trade Commission finalised a rule against impersonating government agencies and businesses in February 2024 and proposed extending it to impersonation of individuals, a proposal still under review as of November 9, 2026.
Deepfake laws around the world
Outside the US, deepfake rules mostly take the form of labelling and platform duties rather than standalone crimes.
- European Union. Article 50 of the AI Act requires deployers to disclose deepfakes from August 2, 2026, and an amendment adds a ban on AI systems that generate non-consensual intimate imagery from December 2, 2026, according to the European Commission. See our guide to the EU's content rules.
- China. Labelling measures in force since September 1, 2025 require visible and embedded labels on AI-generated content.
- India. An IT Rules amendment in force since February 20, 2026 requires platforms to label synthetically generated media and remove unlawful content faster.
- South Korea. The AI Basic Act, in force since January 22, 2026, requires clear notice on AI-generated sound, images and video that are hard to tell from real ones.
Our legislation index tracks these laws by jurisdiction.
Only one federal deepfake law is in force in the US: the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which makes publishing non-consensual intimate images, including AI fakes, a crime and has required platforms to remove them within 48 hours since May 19, 2026. Everything else depends on your state, with 48 states covering sexual deepfakes and 33 regulating election deepfakes. The DEFIANCE and NO FAKES Acts are still pending.
What changed
- 2026-10-22: Ballotpedia tracker: 48 states with sexual deepfake laws and 33 with election deepfake laws.
- 2026-06-22: Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the NO FAKES Act (S. 4591).
- 2026-05-19: TAKE IT DOWN Act platform removal duty took effect; FTC began enforcement.
- 2026-01-30: Federal court permanently blocked Hawaii's election deepfake law.
- 2026-01-13: Senate passed the DEFIANCE Act by unanimous consent.
- 2025-12-02: Court found X Corp. lacked standing for a pre-enforcement challenge to Minnesota's election deepfake law.
- 2025-05-19: TAKE IT DOWN Act signed; criminal provisions took effect.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a federal deepfake law?
Yes. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed May 19, 2025, makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated ones, and since May 19, 2026 requires platforms to remove them within 48 hours of a valid request. No federal law yet covers other kinds of deepfakes generally.
Are deepfakes a crime in every state?
No. As of October 22, 2026, Ballotpedia counted 48 states with laws on sexual deepfakes (its August report named Ohio and New Mexico as the exceptions) and 33 with election deepfake laws. Not all are criminal: some give victims a right to sue, and several election laws have been blocked in court.
What is the difference between criminal and civil deepfake laws?
A criminal deepfake law lets prosecutors charge the creator or distributor, with fines or prison. A civil law lets the person depicted sue for money damages or a court order to stop the use. Some states provide both routes for the same conduct.
Which deepfake bills are still pending in Congress?
The DEFIANCE Act, which would let victims of sexual deepfakes sue, passed the Senate on January 13, 2026 but has not had a House vote. The NO FAKES Act, which would create a federal right over digital replicas of voice and likeness, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2026.
Sources
- Congress.gov: S. 146, TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Congressional Research Service: The TAKE IT DOWN Act
- FTC: FTC begins enforcing the TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Congress.gov: S. 1837, DEFIANCE Act text
- Congress.gov: S. 4591, NO FAKES Act of 2026
- Ballotpedia: Deepfake policy in the United States
- The 19th: Senate passes DEFIANCE Act
- Husch Blackwell: NO FAKES Act advances
- Ballotpedia: 48 states now have sexual deepfake laws (August 2026)
- Justia: X Corp. v. Ellison order (D. Minn.)
- Covington: Tennessee ELVIS Act
- FTC: proposed protections against AI impersonation of individuals
This page is journalism and commentary, not legal advice. AI law changes quickly; check the primary sources above and consult qualified counsel for your situation.