Legislation to Protect Victims of Intimate Deepfakes Passes Senate

DENVER, CO – The Senate today approved Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez’s, D-Denver, legislation to protect victims of intimate deepfakes, or sexually explicit AI-generated material, especially those that involve children.

“Artificial intelligence is moving at light speed and working on policy to address its impacts can be an uphill battle,” said Rodriguez. “SB288 will put Colorado on the same level as 37 other states and the federal government, which have enacted laws that criminalize possession, creation, and distribution of AI-generated or computer-edited child sexual abuse material. This will allow both adult and child victims of intimate deepfakes and explicit AI-generated materials to seek justice against perpetrators and bad actors.”

SB25-288 would create a private right of action and allow a victim depicted in a sexually explicit digital image, or deepfake, who has suffered harm from the image to sue an individual who disclosed the image if the victim:

• Did not consent to disclosure of the deepfake,

• Would experience severe emotional distress from the disclosure, and

• Was identifiable. 

The bill outlines the strict criteria required to establish consent, including requiring affirmative, conscious, and voluntary authorization from a depicted individual, and who can bring a case if the depicted person is less than 18 years of age.

In a lawsuit, a victim could recover any money the defendant made from the image plus either the actual damages, including emotional distress, or $150,000 – whichever is greater.

The bill would also update the definition of "sexually exploitative material" in the context of the criminal law punishing sexual exploitation of a child to include realistic computer-generated digital depictions that are obscene. 

Provisions in the bill clarify that juveniles sharing images of themselves or posting intimate images without permission of similarly aged teens are not charged as adults with distribution of child pornography, but rather charged as juveniles under existing statute regarding sexting.

SB25-288 now moves to the House for further consideration.