Pennsylvania digital reality posture profile
This page summarizes six tracked digital safety topics for Pennsylvania, showing where public legislative coverage currently looks more proactive, more reactive, broader, or thinner. It is a structural posture signal based on public disclosures, not a political or legal grade.
Last reviewed May 11, 2026.
Educational summary only
Not legal advice. Laws and enforcement change frequently. Verify current official statutes, regulations, and counsel where needed.
Overall state posture signal
Mixed posture with narrow tracked coverage.
Based on six tracked topics and public disclosures.
Posture meter
Lean and breadth across six tracked topics. Not a quality or political score.
Lean
Mixed posture
Breadth
Narrow tracked coverage
Pennsylvania Deepfakes law summary
Based on direct statute tracking.
Pennsylvania SB 649 (Act No. 35 of 2025) was approved by the Governor on July 7, 2025. The law creates a new criminal offense of digital forgery covering AI-generated synthetic media — fake voices, images, and video — when used to commit fraud. It is general-purpose: it isn't limited to elections.
Educational summary only
Not legal advice. Laws and enforcement change frequently. Verify current official statutes, regulations, and counsel where needed.
Why this status
Based on direct statute tracking.
What this means
- Pennsylvania's rule is broader than most other states' — it isn't tied to election windows or political contexts. It reaches AI-generated synthetic media used in fraud generally.
- The law creates a criminal offense, not a civil cause of action — enforcement runs through the prosecutor's office, not through individual lawsuits filed by depicted people.
- There's no specific minor-protection or platform-safety provision in this act — those concerns sit in adjacent Pennsylvania statutes, not in Act 35 itself.
What to do next
- Read SB 649 / Act 35 of 2025 on the Pennsylvania General Assembly site for the exact definition of "digital forgery" and the conduct that triggers the criminal offense.
- If you're concerned about a specific deepfake involving fraud, the Pennsylvania District Attorney's office or the state Attorney General's office is the path the criminal statute writes — a non-emergency report is how those usually open.
Citation-grade sources
Official sources
1Pennsylvania SB 649 — digital forgery (Act No. 35 of 2025)
Official textCitation: SB 649 (2025)
Observed: 2026-05-05Official Pennsylvania General Assembly page confirming Governor approval on July 7, 2025; enacted as Act No. 35 of 2025. Bill text PDF linked from this page but not separately fetched.
Open source
Provenance
Source basis
Official links still being curated
Confidence
High confidence
Review scope
Review centered on currently tracked state-level law
Last reviewed
May 8, 2026
References
Pennsylvania SB 649 — digital forgery (Act No. 35 of 2025)
Official Pennsylvania General Assembly page confirming Governor approval on July 7, 2025; enacted as Act No. 35 of 2025. Bill text PDF linked from this page but not separately fetched.
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