Bill > S3926

Introduced Session

This bill extends the crime of identity theft to include fraudulent impersonation or false depiction by means of artificial intelligence or deepfake technology. A so-called "deepfake" or, as defined under this bill, a "false personation record," includes images, video, sound, speech, or text generated entirely by or substantially manipulated using newer technology such as artificial intelligence with the intent of making it appear, as realistically as possible, that the person being depicted has engaged in activity or speech that did not actually occur. Deepfakes have been used to embarrass or harass a person, cast a person in a false light or misappropriate a person's identity or likeness, and fraudulently misrepresent a person's words and actions to the public, and have been distributed to the public both with and without the intention of pecuniary gain. Falsely depicting a person by means of a deepfake is tantamount to stealing that person's identity. Under the bill, the grading of identity theft into crimes of the fourth, third, and second degree remains unchanged. However, false depiction by means of a deepfake would be graded by the number of victims affected. Thus, false depiction affecting one victim is a crime of the fourth degree except that a second or subsequent conviction for such an offense constitutes a crime of the third degree. False depiction affecting at least two but less than five victims is a crime of the third degree, and false depiction affecting five or more victims is a crime of the second degree. A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by up to 18 months imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. A crime of the third degree is punishable by three to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. A crime of the second degree is punishable by five to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both. To remediate the economic or reputational harm caused by a false depiction, the court may order that the deepfake be destroyed and a public retraction be made at the defendant's expense. In addition, the bill clarifies that any civil action for economic restitution by a victim does not preclude a civil action for non-economic losses such as common law defamation, libel, slander, invasion of privacy, false light, misappropriation of identity, intrusion of privacy, or public disclosure of private facts.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Brian Stack (D)*,  Douglas Steinhardt (R)*,  Kristin Corrado (R), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 06/05/2023)

Official Document