Digital Readiness · Deepfakes

Where the law has caught up — and where it hasn't.

Every U.S. state, mapped against the topics moving fastest at the legislature. Click any state for the law and where enforcement actually stands.

Deepfakes

Alabama

Specific rule in effect.Trending toward more guardrails.

Effective 2024-10-01 · 1 October 2024Next review by 2026-08-06 · 6 August 2026

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Sources

alison.legislature.state.al.usAlabama HB 172 — materially deceptive media in elections (enrolled)

Why this status

Alabama HB 172 has been on the books since October 1, 2024. The law makes it a crime to knowingly distribute AI-generated media that falsely depicts a real person in the 90 days before an election with intent to harm a candidate's reputation or deceive voters. A clear AI-manipulated label is treated as a recognized defense.

What this means

The rule is squarely about election deception in the final 90-day window — it doesn't reach AI-generated content in everyday family or school contexts, and it isn't about deepfakes of private individuals outside that window.
The Attorney General, the depicted person, the candidate, and recognized voter-interest groups can ask a court to stop distribution — that civil-injunction path runs in parallel with the criminal offense.
If the media carries a clear, on-the-content disclaimer that it is AI-manipulated, that single label is what shifts a piece from likely-prohibited to likely-protected.

What to verify next

Read HB 172 (2024) directly on the Alabama Legislature's enrolled-bill page if you want to see the exact 90-day window definition and the disclaimer carve-out.
If you're concerned about a deepfake outside an election context, Alabama HB 172 isn't the relevant rule — federal intimate-image and fraud protections, plus the platform's own content policy, are where to look.

How this was scored →

Public-source posture estimateNot legal adviceMap regenerated2026-05-08 · 8 May 2026