Texas digital reality posture profile
This page summarizes six tracked digital safety topics for Texas, 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 12, 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
Reactive-leaning 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
Reactive-leaning
Breadth
Narrow tracked coverage
Texas Deepfakes law summary
Based on adjacent fraud, privacy, impersonation, or child-safety coverage.
Texas's SB 751 has been on the books since September 1, 2019 and is one of the older state deepfake rules in the country. It makes it a criminal offense to create and publish a realistic-looking fabricated video of a real person within 30 days of an election, with intent to influence the outcome. The rule is squarely about elections — Texas hasn't enacted a broader rule covering deepfakes outside that 30-day, intent-tied scope.
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 adjacent fraud, privacy, impersonation, or child-safety coverage.
What this means
- The protection is narrow but real: the criminal trigger is video, made and published within 30 days of an election, with intent to influence the outcome. That triple condition is intentional — and intentionally narrow.
- The rule doesn't reach images, audio-only content, content outside the 30-day election window, or content where election-influencing intent isn't present.
- There's nothing in SB 751 about platform obligations or specific minor protections — those concerns sit in adjacent Texas statutes, not in this law.
What to do next
- Read SB 751 on the Texas Legislature Online site for the exact 30-day window definition and the intent standard.
- If you're concerned about a deepfake outside an election context — in a social feed, in a school setting, or directed at a private individual — Texas's SB 751 isn't the relevant rule. Federal protections and the platform's own content policy are where to look first.
Citation-grade sources
Official sources
1Texas SB 751 — deceptive video offense in elections
Official textCitation: SB 751 (86R, 2019)
Observed: 2026-05-05Enrolled bill text, effective September 1, 2019. Passed Senate 31–0 and House 141–3.
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
Texas SB 751 — deceptive video offense in elections
Enrolled bill text, effective September 1, 2019. Passed Senate 31–0 and House 141–3.
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