Pennsylvania Deepfake Laws: AI Images, Voice Cloning & Penalties (2026)

Pennsylvania has two enacted deepfake statutes. Act 125 of 2024 (18 Pa.C.S. 3131) criminalizes non-consensual AI-generated sexual images, and Act 35 of 2025 (18 Pa.C.S. 4101.1) creates the offense of digital forgery, covering both video deepfakes and AI voice clones distributed with intent to defraud or injure.

Is It Illegal to Make a Deepfake of Someone in Pennsylvania?

Yes, for two categories of conduct. Pennsylvania law targets (1) sexual and intimate deepfakes of adults and AI-CSAM involving minors, and (2) deepfakes and voice clones used to deceive or defraud. A third category (election and political deepfakes) has no state statute yet, though the First Amendment concerns that led courts to partially enjoin similar laws in other states make Pennsylvania's legislative caution understandable.

Pennsylvania also has a right-of-publicity statute, 42 Pa.C.S. 8316, which covers unauthorized commercial use of a person's name, likeness, or voice, including substantially similar imitations. Outside the two criminal statutes, creating or sharing a deepfake is not automatically a crime under state law unless it meets the specific intent elements of 3131 or 4101.1. For broader AI regulation, see Pennsylvania AI Laws.

Sexual and Intimate Deepfakes

18 Pa.C.S. 3131, titled "Unlawful Dissemination of Intimate Image," was the state's pre-existing revenge-porn statute. Act 125 of 2024 expanded it to expressly cover artificially generated sexual depictions: AI-created images or video that appear to authentically depict an identifiable individual in a sexual context, regardless of whether that conduct ever occurred.

The offense requires dissemination with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm. It is a first-degree misdemeanor when the depicted person is a minor, and a second-degree misdemeanor when the depicted person is an adult. A consent defense is available if the depicted person authorized the distribution.

Act 125 also amended 18 Pa.C.S. 6312 to expressly include AI-generated child sexual abuse material. This matters because federal law under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. 2256) already covers computer-generated CSAM indistinguishable from a real minor, so Pennsylvania and federal law now reinforce each other on AI-CSAM.

For conduct that does not involve explicit sexual imagery (for example, a non-sexual deepfake used to embarrass someone), 3131 does not apply. The digital forgery statute (4101.1) may apply if fraud or deception is present.

Election and Political Deepfakes

Pennsylvania has no enacted law specifically targeting deepfakes in political advertising or election campaigns as of June 2026. The General Assembly has considered proposals, but none have been signed into law.

This gap matters. A realistic AI-generated video of a candidate saying something false, circulated during a campaign, would not be a state crime under existing Pennsylvania statutes unless it also constitutes digital forgery under 4101.1 (requiring intent to defraud or injure a specific person) or defamation under civil law.

Election deepfake laws in other states carry ongoing First Amendment risk. A California law (AB 2839) was struck down and permanently enjoined in August 2025 on free-speech grounds, illustrating why courts scrutinize political-speech restrictions closely. Pennsylvania's absence of such a law is consistent with that legal uncertainty.

AI Voice Cloning and Digital Likeness

18 Pa.C.S. 4101.1, enacted by Act 35 of 2025 and effective September 5, 2025, is Pennsylvania's most significant contribution to deepfake law. It created the offense of "digital forgery," defined as generating or creating and distributing a "forged digital likeness" as genuine when the person knows or reasonably should know it is fake and acts with intent to defraud or injure.

A "forged digital likeness" expressly covers both visual representations and audio recordings of an identifiable individual's voice. The audio element makes Pennsylvania one of a small group of states that has criminalized AI voice cloning beyond the robocall context. The Tennessee ELVIS Act (Tenn. Code Ann. 47-25-1101, eff. July 1, 2024) was the national archetype for voice-clone legislation; Pennsylvania's 4101.1 takes a complementary fraud-and-injury framing rather than a right-of-publicity approach.

The penalties reflect the severity of the scheme. Basic digital forgery (distributing a fake video or voice clip as real with intent to harm) is a first-degree misdemeanor (up to five years in Pennsylvania). When the forgery is part of a scheme to defraud, coerce, or steal money or property (the "grandparent scam" pattern Governor Shapiro highlighted at signing), it escalates to a third-degree felony (up to seven years).

An affirmative defense exists if the defendant took reasonable action to put viewers or listeners on notice that the content was not genuine, such as clear labeling or disclosure.

For commercial misuse, Pennsylvania's right-of-publicity statute (42 Pa.C.S. 8316) gives a person whose name or likeness has commercial value a civil claim, including injunctions and damages, when their name, likeness, or voice (or a substantially similar imitation) is used for commercial or advertising purposes without written consent. For non-commercial harms outside the criminal statutes, victims must proceed under general tort theories (false light, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress).

Federal Law That Applies in Pennsylvania

The TAKE IT DOWN Act (Public Law 119-12, signed May 19, 2025) is the first federal intimate-deepfake law. It makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate visual depictions of adults or minors, expressly including AI-generated deepfakes. The maximum penalty is two years in prison, three years when a minor is involved. Critically, platforms must remove content flagged by a victim within 48 hours, with the FTC as the enforcement authority. The removal obligation took full effect May 19, 2026.

The DEFIANCE Act and the NO FAKES Act are still not law as of June 2026. The DEFIANCE Act (S.1837, 119th Congress) would create a federal civil cause of action for sexual deepfake victims, with liquidated damages of $150,000 (or $250,000 if the conduct involved actual or attempted sexual assault, stalking, or harassment); it passed the Senate by unanimous consent on January 13, 2026 and is pending in the House. The NO FAKES Act (S.4591), which would create a federal right of publicity against unauthorized AI digital replicas, has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee and awaits a Senate floor vote (as of August 2026). Neither has become law. Do not rely on either as a remedy.

The FCC ruled in February 2024 (FCC 24-17) that AI-generated voices in robocalls are "artificial" under the TCPA, making AI voice-clone robocalls illegal without prior express consent. This federal rule applies in Pennsylvania and is separate from the state digital forgery statute.

The FTC Impersonation Rule (16 CFR Part 461, eff. April 1, 2024) prohibits deceptive impersonation of government entities and businesses, including via AI voice cloning. The extension to individual impersonation remains an unfinalized proposed rule as of 2026.

What Victims Can Do

Victims of intimate deepfakes or AI-generated sexual imagery in Pennsylvania should contact local law enforcement or the Pennsylvania State Police. The conduct may violate 18 Pa.C.S. 3131 (if sexual) or 18 Pa.C.S. 4101.1 (if deceptive or fraudulent). Federal TAKE IT DOWN Act charges are handled by federal prosecutors.

For platform removal, the TAKE IT DOWN Act gives victims a right to request removal and requires platforms to act within 48 hours. Submit a report through the platform's abuse or legal process channel; platforms that fail to comply face FTC enforcement.

On the civil side, 42 Pa.C.S. 8316.1 gives victims of conduct described in 18 Pa.C.S. 3131 (including AI-generated intimate depictions) a civil action with actual damages of at least $500, treble damages in the court's discretion, and reasonable attorney fees. The digital forgery statute (4101.1) has no dedicated civil action. Victims of non-intimate deepfakes should consult a Pennsylvania attorney about a right-of-publicity claim under 42 Pa.C.S. 8316 (commercial misuse of name, likeness, or voice) or tort claims: defamation (if false statements of fact are depicted), false light invasion of privacy, or intentional infliction of emotional distress. The state's wiretapping law (Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, 18 Pa.C.S. 5701 et seq.) is a separate all-party-consent regime relevant to recording consent, covered in depth at Pennsylvania Recording Laws.

For data-related harms involving AI systems, see Pennsylvania Data Privacy Laws.

Penalties at a Glance

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Pennsylvania deepfake and AI voice cloning laws and is not legal advice. Laws in this area are changing rapidly; the statutes described here reflect the law as of June 2026. If you have been harmed by a deepfake or face a related legal matter, consult a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.

For the full 50-state comparison, see Deepfake and AI Voice Cloning Laws by State.

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