Are deepfakes illegal?

Some are. Since May 2025 it’s a federal crime to knowingly post a sexual deepfake of a real person without consent, and since May 2026 big platforms have to take one down within 48 hours of a valid request. Forty-eight states have their own law on sexual deepfakes, and 31 have one on election deepfakes. Past those two areas the rules get thin, and a federal law protecting your face and voice hasn’t passed.

The federal law: TAKE IT DOWN

The TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed on May 19, 2025. It made it a federal crime to knowingly publish, or threaten to publish, intimate images of someone without their consent, and it treats an AI fake the same as a real photo. It covers adults and kids.

The second half took a year to kick in. Since May 19, 2026, social media, messaging, and image and video sites have to offer a way to ask for removal, and they have to take the image down, plus any copies they know about, within 48 hours of a valid request. The FTC enforces that part, and it sent warning letters to at least 15 companies before the deadline.

What else is federal, and what isn’t

AI voices in robocalls: covered
In February 2024 the FCC ruled that an AI-cloned voice counts as an artificial voice under the robocall law, so the same consent rules apply. It came right after fake calls in President Biden’s voice tried to talk New Hampshire voters out of the primary.
A right to sue the person who faked you: not yet
The DEFIANCE Act would give victims of sexual deepfakes a federal right to sue. It passed the Senate in 2024 and didn’t become law, and as of September 2026 it still isn’t.
Your face and voice: not yet
The NO FAKES Act would give everyone a federal right over AI copies of their voice and likeness. A Senate committee advanced it in June 2026. It isn’t law.

Deepfake laws by state

Here’s where every state stands on the two kinds of deepfake law most states have written: sexual deepfakes and deepfakes in elections.

From Public Citizen’s state trackers, updated September 22, 2026. “Yes” means at least one law is on the books. It doesn’t tell you whether the law is criminal or civil, or exactly what it covers, so read your own state’s law before you count on it.
State	Sexual deepfakes	Election deepfakes
Alabama	Yes	Yes
Alaska	Minors only	No
Arizona	Yes	Yes
Arkansas	Yes	No
California	Yes	Yes, one law blocked
Colorado	Yes	Yes
Connecticut	Yes	No
Delaware	Yes	Yes
Florida	Yes	Yes
Georgia	Yes	No
Hawaii	Yes	Struck down
Idaho	Yes	Yes
Illinois	Yes	No
Indiana	Yes	Yes
Iowa	Yes	No
Kansas	Yes	No
Kentucky	Yes	Yes
Louisiana	Yes	Yes
Maine	Yes	Yes
Maryland	Yes	Yes
Massachusetts	Yes	Expired
Michigan	Yes	Yes
Minnesota	Yes	Yes
Mississippi	Minors only	Yes
Missouri	Yes	No
Montana	Yes	Yes
Nebraska	Yes	No
Nevada	Yes	Yes
New Hampshire	Yes	Yes
New Jersey	Yes	No
New Mexico	No	Yes
New York	Yes	Yes
North Carolina	Yes	No
North Dakota	Yes	Yes
Ohio	No	No
Oklahoma	Yes	No
Oregon	Yes	Yes
Pennsylvania	Yes	Yes
Rhode Island	Yes	Yes
South Carolina	Yes	No
South Dakota	Yes	Yes
Tennessee	Yes	Yes
Texas	Yes	Yes
Utah	Yes	Yes
Vermont	Yes	Yes
Virginia	Yes	No
Washington	Yes	Yes
West Virginia	Minors only	No
Wisconsin	Yes	Yes
Wyoming	Yes	No

A few notes on that table. Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia protect minors only. Hawaii’s election law was struck down in court, Massachusetts’ expired in February 2025, and one of California’s was blocked on free speech grounds, with the state appealing. Minnesota’s has held up so far.

Some states also protect your voice and likeness from AI copies more broadly, like Tennessee’s ELVIS Act from 2024 and two California laws passed the same year. I couldn’t find a reliable list of every state with a law like that, so the table leaves it out instead of guessing.

If someone made a deepfake of you

Report it to the site
If it’s sexual, the platform has to have a removal process now, and 48 hours to act on a valid request. If there’s no process, or they ignore you, report the platform to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.
Under 18: Take It Down
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children runs Take It Down at takeitdown.ncmec.org. It makes a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device and shares only the fingerprint, so participating sites can find and remove copies without anyone seeing the image.
18 or older: StopNCII
StopNCII.org works the same way for adults.
Go to the police
Posting a sexual deepfake without consent is a federal crime, and most states have their own law too. Write down the links, usernames and dates before anything gets taken down. If the image is of someone under 18, don’t save or screenshot it; give the police the links.
Ask a lawyer about suing
There’s no federal right to sue yet. Whether you can sue depends on your state, and a local lawyer can tell you quickly.

Questions people ask

Is it illegal to make a deepfake of someone?

It depends on what it shows and what you do with it. Publishing a sexual deepfake of a real person without consent is a federal crime, and 48 states have their own sexual deepfake laws. A deepfake about a candidate can break election law in 31 states. Plenty of other deepfakes aren’t covered by a specific law yet.

What should I do if someone made a deepfake of me?

Ask the site to take it down. For a sexual image, platforms have to act within 48 hours of a valid request, and you can report one that doesn’t to the FTC. Use Take It Down if you’re under 18 or StopNCII.org if you’re an adult, and report it to the police.

Which states don’t have a deepfake law?

For sexual deepfakes, New Mexico and Ohio are the only states without an enacted law, according to Public Citizen’s tracker as of September 22, 2026. Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia have laws that cover minors only.

Are election deepfakes illegal?

In 31 states there’s a law on deepfakes in elections, and the details differ state to state. Courts have pushed back on some: Hawaii’s was struck down and one of California’s was blocked. Minnesota’s has survived a challenge so far.

Where this comes from

The course goes further

Module 23 of the course, “When the machine decides, and when it fakes you,” covers deepfakes alongside the other ways AI gets used on you.

Your Data Rights is a plain-English course on what companies collect about you, what they’re allowed to do with it, and what you can do back. The app is waiting on store review.

Tell me when it’s out See the whole course