Deepfakes Heatmap

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.

• 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.

• 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.