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

Pennsylvania

Specific rule in effect.Trending toward more guardrails.

Last action 2025-07-07 · 7 July 2025Next review by 2026-08-06 · 6 August 2026

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Sources

palegis.usPennsylvania SB 649 — digital forgery (Act No. 35 of 2025)

Why this status

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.

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 verify 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.

How this was scored →

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