New Deepfake Laws Lead to Criminal Charges Amid Growing Legal Pushback

In Pennsylvania, a police officer faced accusations involving illicit photography in a women's locker room, covert recordings during duty, and possession of a stolen firearm. However, authorities could not file charges for a collection of AI-generated explicit images of minors discovered on the officer’s work computer, as the production of such digital fakes was not yet illegal when the device was confiscated last November.

Since that time, Pennsylvania implemented a comprehensive ban on this type of content. Although the new law did not apply retroactively to the officer’s case, Attorney General David Sunday has already utilized the statute to prosecute another individual found with 29 AI-created child sexual abuse files at his home.

Over the last two years, lawmakers across the United States have intensified efforts to address the dangers posed by malicious deepfakes. Unauthorized sexual images digitally fabricated of middle school students have surfaced, while political figures have publicly rejected fabricated clips mimicking their voices. Additionally, an advertisement featuring an AI-generated likeness of actress Jamie Lee Curtis was pulled from Instagram following her public objection.

Legislative responses have accelerated considerably. This year alone, 26 new laws targeting various forms of deepfake content have been enacted, following 80 laws in 2024 and 15 in 2023. In Tennessee, sharing non-consensual deepfake sexual images is now a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and fines reaching $10,000. Iowa passed two bills last year addressing sexually explicit deepfakes, including one that classifies AI-generated sexual images of children as a felony, carrying penalties of up to five years imprisonment and fines exceeding $10,000 for first offenses. New Jersey recently approved a ban on harmful deepfakes that could lead to fines up to $30,000 and jail time.

California has taken an especially assertive approach, enacting eight deepfake-related bills in September alone, including five measures passed on a single day.