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California Deepfake Laws: What Businesses and Platforms Need to Know
In effect Primary law: California SB 926 (crime to create & share realistic fake nudes of real people) · Cal. Penal Code 647 (SB 926, Stats. 2024)
California does not have a single "deepfake law" — it has a cluster of statutes that each target a different harm, and several of them create direct duties (and liability) for businesses and platforms. If you operate a social platform, run political advertising, use AI-generated likenesses in marketing or entertainment, or your product can generate synthetic media, several of these apply to you. A federal law, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, sits on top for nonconsensual intimate imagery nationwide.
What the law requires
- Don't create or share nonconsensual sexual deepfakes. Under AB 602 (civil) and SB 926 (criminal), creating or distributing realistic sexually explicit digital depictions of an identifiable real person without consent carries civil damages and criminal liability.
- Give users a way to report and remove deepfake nudes (platforms). SB 981 requires social media platforms operating in California to provide an accessible reporting mechanism, temporarily block reported nonconsensual sexually explicit digital images, and remove them on a reasonable-basis finding.
- Disclose AI in political ads. AB 2355 requires AI-generated or substantially altered political advertisements to carry a disclosure of the AI use.
- Don't use unauthorized AI digital replicas. AB 1836 bars unauthorized AI digital replicas of deceased performers in expressive works without estate consent; related statutes constrain AI voice/likeness contract terms.
Who must comply
It depends on the statute: creators and distributors of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes (AB 602, SB 926); social media platforms operating in California (SB 981 reporting/removal); anyone running AI-generated political ads (AB 2355); and producers using AI replicas of performers (AB 1836). Businesses whose AI products can generate synthetic media should map each duty to their product surface.
Penalties & enforcement
Penalties vary by statute. AB 602 allows statutory damages of $1,500–$30,000 (up to $150,000 for malice) plus punitive damages and fees, and creates a private right of action. SB 926 carries criminal misdemeanor penalties. AB 2355 allows monetary penalties up to $5,000 per violation under the Political Reform Act. AB 1836 imposes civil liability of the greater of $10,000 or actual damages. The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act adds FTC-enforced platform takedown obligations for nonconsensual intimate imagery.
How to comply: a practical checklist
- If you run a social platform in California, stand up an accessible SB 981 reporting flow with temporary blocking and a documented reasonable-basis review (generally 30 days, extendable to 60).
- Add the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act 48-hour notice-and-removal process for nonconsensual intimate imagery — it applies nationwide.
- For any AI-generated or AI-altered political ad, attach the AB 2355 AI-use disclosure.
- Before using an AI digital replica of any performer (living or deceased), secure the rights AB 1836 / related likeness statutes require.
- Train product and trust-and-safety teams that creating or distributing nonconsensual sexual deepfakes carries both civil (AB 602) and criminal (SB 926) exposure.
- Document your synthetic-media provenance and labeling so you can demonstrate good-faith compliance.
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Every claim above traces to one of these verified entries in our index. Each links to its full record and its official source. Status labels reflect the live dataset as of 2026-06-17.
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In effect Limited protection
AB 602 (Deepfake Intimate Images)
California · Effective 2020-01-01 · Cal. Civ. Code § 1708.86 (AB 602, 2019); Cal. Penal Code § 647(j)(4)
Californians depicted in sexually explicit deepfakes made or shared without their consent can sue the people responsible for damages, including statutory damages and attorney's fees. Criminal liability also exists under separate provisions (SB 926, 2024).
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In effect Limited protection
California SB 926 (crime to create & share realistic fake nudes of real people)
California · Effective 2025-01-01 · Cal. Penal Code 647 (SB 926, Stats. 2024)
California extends its criminal ban on distributing private intimate images to cover digitally fabricated ones. It is now a crime for an adult to intentionally create and distribute a sexually explicit image of an identifiable person made to look authentic, when the distributor knows or should know it will cause that person serious emotional distress and the person in fact suffers that distress. This closes a gap that left realistic AI-generated fakes outside the existing intimate-image law.
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In effect Limited protection
California SB 981 (platforms must let users report & remove deepfake nudes)
California · Effective 2025-01-01 · Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code Ch. 22.7 (SB 981, Stats. 2024)
Social media platforms must give California users a clear way to report sexually explicit images or videos of themselves that were created or altered through digitization without their consent. Once reported, the platform must temporarily block the material while it investigates, and remove it if it finds a reasonable basis to believe it is this kind of nonconsensual digital fake. The framing covers synthetic and AI-altered intimate imagery, not just real photos.
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In effect Limited protection
California AB 2355 (AI-generated political ads must disclose the AI use)
California · Effective 2025-01-01 · AB 2355, Stats. 2024 (amending the Political Reform Act of 1974)
A political committee that creates, publishes, or distributes a campaign ad whose images, audio, or video were generated or substantially altered using AI must include a clear disclosure stating that AI was used. The disclosure follows specific formatting rules depending on whether the ad is print, audio, or video. The state campaign-finance regulator can enforce it, with penalties up to $5,000 per violation.
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In effect Moderate protection
California AB 1836 (bans unauthorized AI digital replicas of dead performers)
California · Effective 2025-01-01 · Cal. Civ. Code 3344.1 (AB 1836, Stats. 2024)
It is unlawful to produce, distribute, or make available a digital replica of a deceased celebrity's or performer's voice or likeness in a film, video, or sound recording without consent from whoever controls that person's rights (such as their estate). Anyone who does so is liable to the rights holder for the greater of $10,000 or the actual damages caused.
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In effect Stronger protection
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective 2025-05-19 · Pub. L. No. 119-12 (S. 146)
Makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Social media and similar platforms must give victims a way to request removal and must take the content (and known copies) down within 48 hours. The platform removal requirement became enforceable May 19, 2026, and the FTC has already begun enforcement.
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