Deepfake Penalty Tracker: 2026 State-by-State

As of 2026, 45 states have enacted at least one law addressing AI-generated deepfakes, spanning 255 bills total. These laws cover election interference, non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), fraud, and identity theft. See the full breakdown by category.

Penalties vary widely by state and by the type of deepfake. Criminal penalties range from misdemeanors with fines of a few thousand dollars to felonies carrying multiple years of imprisonment. Civil penalties can include damages, injunctive relief, and fines exceeding $100,000 in some states. Use the filters above to compare penalties across states.

The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act makes it a crime to publish or threaten to publish non-consensual intimate imagery (including AI-generated content) with penalties of up to two years for adult victims and three years for minors. Most other deepfake regulation happens at the state level through the laws tracked above.

Many state deepfake laws include explicit carve-outs for satire and parody. For example, Pennsylvania's Act 35 exempts content a reasonable person would recognize as parody. However, the scope of these exemptions varies significantly by state. Consult the specific statute in your jurisdiction.

Louisiana imposes some of the strictest penalties with 5–30 years imprisonment and fines up to $50,000 for NCII deepfakes. Minnesota's NCII civil action under Minn. Stat. §604.32 allows civil penalties up to $100,000 plus damages and attorney fees, while its election-deepfake statute (§609.771) imposes criminal fines up to $10,000. Several states classify repeat violations as felonies. Sort by "Max Penalty" in the table above to compare.