Deepfakes Heatmap

Washington's SB 5152 (Chapter 360, 2023 Laws) has been in effect since July 23, 2023, signed May 9, 2023. The law gives candidates and campaigns a path to seek relief if synthetic media is used against them in a campaign for elected office. The rule is squarely about campaigns — Washington hasn't enacted a broader rule covering deepfakes for minors or outside campaign contexts.

• The protection is narrow but real: it covers synthetic media used against a candidate in a campaign for elected office, not deepfakes in social feeds, group chats, or apps your kids use.
• The depicted candidate is the one with standing to seek relief — that's the law's main mechanism. It doesn't open a civil claim for private individuals depicted in non-campaign deepfakes.
• For AI-fakes outside campaign contexts — including content involving minors — Washington hasn't addressed those uses at the state level. Federal rules and platform policies are what apply to those gaps.

• Read SB 5152 (Chapter 360, 2023) on the Washington State Legislature site for the exact campaign-context definitions and the candidate's path to seek relief.
• If you're concerned about a non-campaign use of an AI fake — in a school chat, an app, a private message — Washington's SB 5152 isn't the relevant rule. Check federal protections and the platform's own policy instead.