AI Frontier Institute

Deepfake pornography.

View primary source →

California Assembly Bill 621 (Chapter 673), signed October 13, 2025, amends Civil Code Section 1708.86 to strengthen protections against deepfake pornography. The bill expands the existing cause of action so that a depicted individual may sue not only persons who create and disclose, or disclose without creating, nonconsensual digitized sexually explicit material, but also persons who 'knowingly facilitate or recklessly aid or abet' such conduct (subdivision (b)(3)). It adds liability when the depicted individual was a minor at the time the material was created, regardless of consent. A new defined term, 'digitized sexually explicit material,' covers any visual or audiovisual work—including still images—created or substantially altered through digitization showing the individual nude or engaged in sexual conduct (subdivision (a)(7)). A 'deepfake pornography service' is defined as an internet website, mobile application, or other service whose primary purpose is to create such material (subdivision (a)(3)). Under subdivision (c)(2), a service provider that enables the ongoing operation of a deepfake pornography service is presumed to be in violation if a depicted individual or public prosecutor submits qualifying evidence of the violation and the provider fails to stop enabling the service within 30 days. Statutory damages are increased from a prior cap of $30,000 to a maximum of $50,000 for non-malicious violations and from $150,000 to $250,000 for malicious violations (subdivision (f)(1)(B)). Public prosecutors—including the Attorney General, city attorneys, county counsel, and district attorneys—may bring civil enforcement actions and, if prevailing, collect civil penalties of $25,000 per violation or $50,000 per malicious violation plus injunctive relief and attorney's fees (subdivision (f)(2)). Disclaimers by a service stating that nonconsensual material is prohibited are explicitly not a defense (subdivision (e)(2)). The statute of limitations is three years from discovery. Internet service providers that merely transmit or route third-party content are shielded from liability, and the section does not apply to conduct protected by federal law including Section 230 of Title 47 of the United States Code (subdivisions (i) and (j)).

← Back to the tracker