Federal Deepfake Bills: NO FAKES, DEFIANCE Status (2027)

As of November 5, 2026, the only law we found enacted in this Congress that makes publishing intimate deepfakes a crime is the TAKE IT DOWN Act (Pub. L. 119-12). The DEFIANCE Act (S. 1837) passed the Senate but not the House, and the NO FAKES Act (S. 4591) has not had a floor vote in either chamber.

Status as of November 5, 2026: DEFIANCE passed the Senate on January 13, 2026, and the House has not acted. NO FAKES has been on the Senate calendar as No. 446 since June 24, 2026. Neither is law, and neither is in force.

This page tracks bills in the U.S. Congress, currently the 119th Congress, and we update this URL in place. It covers federal bills only. State laws are on our deepfake laws by state hub, and a bill listed here creates no rights or duties unless it is enacted.

Federal Deepfake Bills: Status Table (119th Congress)

We read each bill's status from the official Congress.gov record on November 5, 2026. We also scanned the titles of all House and Senate bills in this Congress, about 16,600. A bill with a neutral title, a joint resolution or an amendment to another bill can fall outside a title scan, so this list is what we found, not a guarantee that nothing else exists.

None of the bills below is law. "Referred" means the newest action is the referral to committee.

NO FAKES Act (S. 4591, H.R. 8915): Status and What It Would Do

Status as of November 5, 2026: S. 4591, the NO FAKES Act of 2026, has not passed either chamber. Sen. Coons introduced it on May 20, 2026. The Senate Judiciary Committee ordered it reported with a substitute on June 18, and Sen. Grassley reported it on June 24 without a written report, placing it on the calendar as No. 446. That is the newest action.

The House companion, H.R. 8915 (Rep. Salazar), went to the Judiciary Committee on May 20, 2026, and shows no later action. The 2025 versions, S. 1367 and H.R. 2794, show no action since April 9, 2025. For the committee stage, see our dated report on the Senate Judiciary vote.

The name stands for the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026. Everything below describes the Senate substitute as reported. The House bill is a separate introduced text, and a later version could differ.

Digital replicas and who would hold the right

A "digital replica" would be "a newly created, computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation that is readily identifiable as the voice or visual likeness of an individual." It would apply to a recording, image or audiovisual work in which the person did not actually perform or appear, or in which the fundamental character of the performance or appearance was materially altered.

The bill would give each individual or right holder the right to authorize such uses. The right would be a property right, "not assignable during the life of the individual," though it could be licensed. A living adult's license could not run more than 10 years and would need to be written and signed, with a reasonably specific description of the uses. A minor's license would be capped at 5 years, end at 18, and need court approval. Licenses governed by a collective bargaining agreement are outside those limits.

After death, the right would run for 10 years. It could be renewed in 5-year periods on a showing of "active and authorized public use" during the 2 years before each renewal, and it would end no later than 70 years after death.

Who would be liable under NO FAKES

Liability would reach two kinds of conduct, each in a manner affecting interstate or foreign commerce:

• Publicly displaying, distributing, transmitting or communicating a digital replica without authorization, or otherwise making one available to the public, with the knowledge described below.
• Distributing or otherwise making available a product or service that is "primarily designed to produce" unauthorized replicas of a specifically identified person, has only limited commercially significant purpose otherwise, or is marketed that way, with the knowledge described below.

Creating a replica is not one of the listed verbs in the first category; the conduct is making it available. Knowledge is also required. An online service would need a compliant notice or court order, or willful avoidance, and anyone else would need actual knowledge or willful avoidance of it.

NO FAKES exclusions, takedown and damages

The substitute excludes bona fide news, public affairs or sports uses; documentary, historical or biographical uses unless they create a false impression of authenticity; bona fide commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire or parody; fleeting or negligible uses; and related advertising. Those exclusions do not apply where the replica depicts sexually explicit conduct as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2256(2)(A).

Online services could use a notice-and-takedown safe harbor by registering an agent with the Copyright Office, removing matching uploads by digital fingerprint after a valid notice, and keeping a repeat-violator policy. The bill would not impose a general duty to monitor.

Plaintiffs could recover the greater of actual damages plus profits or these statutory amounts:

Courts could add injunctions and, for willful conduct, punitive damages. The filing limit would be 3 years from discovery. A disclaimer that the use was unauthorized, or that it was made with AI, would be no defense.

The substitute has no criminal penalty. It would take effect 180 days after enactment and apply only to conduct after enactment.

NO FAKES preemption of state law

The bill would preempt some state claims over replicas in expressive works, and keeps those existing on January 2, 2025 and state laws on sexual or election replicas. It also keeps state claims existing on that date against products or services capable of producing replicas.

State voice and likeness law is covered on our AI voice cloning laws and right of publicity pages. Broader efforts to override state AI laws are a separate subject, covered on our state AI law preemption page.

DEFIANCE Act (S. 1837, H.R. 3562): Did It Pass?

Status as of November 5, 2026: the DEFIANCE Act passed the Senate but not the House, so it is not law. The Senate passed S. 1837 by unanimous consent on January 13, 2026, and the record shows "Held at the desk" the same day. No House vote appears.

The House companion, H.R. 3562 (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, 69 cosponsors), was referred to the Judiciary Committee on May 21, 2025, with no action since. It is not awaiting a floor vote.

This is the second time the Senate has passed a DEFIANCE bill. S. 3696 passed by voice vote on July 23, 2024, was held at the desk the next day, and died with the 118th Congress. Our dated report on the January vote has the background.

What the DEFIANCE Act would do

The name stands for the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2025. It would amend 15 U.S.C. 6851, the existing federal civil action over intimate images. It creates a lawsuit, not a crime.

An "intimate digital forgery" would be an intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual that falsely represents the person or the conduct that makes it intimate, is made with software, AI or other technological means, and "is indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the identifiable individual when viewed as a whole by a reasonable person." A label saying the image is fake would not change that.

The person depicted could sue over a forgery on two routes:

• Disclosure-related conduct: anyone who "knowingly produced or possessed the intimate digital forgery with intent to disclose it, knowingly disclosed the intimate digital forgery, or knowingly solicited and received" it, if the person did not consent and the defendant knew or recklessly disregarded that.
• Production alone: anyone who "knowingly produced" it, if the person did not consent and the defendant knew or recklessly disregarded both the lack of consent and that the person was harmed, or was reasonably likely to be harmed, by the production.

Each route also requires a link to interstate or foreign commerce.

DEFIANCE damages and time limit

A plaintiff could recover liquidated damages of $150,000, or $250,000 if the conduct was committed in relation to actual or attempted sexual assault, stalking or harassment of the person by the defendant, or was the direct and proximate cause of such an act by anyone. The alternative is actual damages, including the defendant's attributable profits. Costs and reasonable attorney fees are added.

A court could also award punitive damages, order deletion, and let a plaintiff use a pseudonym or file under seal. The deadline would be 10 years from the later of when the person reasonably discovers the violation or turns 18. The bill says it does not impair, supersede or limit other federal, state or tribal law.

Why DEFIANCE matters today

Current 15 U.S.C. 6851 lets a person sue over a nonconsensual disclosure of their intimate visual depiction, for actual damages or $150,000 in liquidated damages. Whether a pure fake counts as the person's "intimate visual depiction" is unsettled: we found no ruling, and DEFIANCE is written to answer that question.

Federal Election Deepfake Bills

No federal statute is written for election deepfakes, by our search. The Federal Election Commission declined to write AI rules in 2024 and said the existing ban on fraudulent misrepresentation of candidates is technology neutral. As of November 5, 2026, the FEC's own site lists two commissioners; it needs four votes to act.

• Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act (S. 1213, H.R. 5272): would bar knowingly distributing materially deceptive AI-generated audio or visual media of a federal candidate to influence an election or solicit funds. Newscasts, periodicals and satire or parody have exceptions, some with conditions. S. 1213 lets the candidate seek an injunction and damages, with the burden on the plaintiff by clear and convincing evidence. The new section sets no criminal penalty of its own, but it would sit inside the Federal Election Campaign Act, and 52 U.S.C. 30109(d) punishes certain knowing and willful violations of that Act.
• AI Transparency in Elections Act of 2026 (H.R. 9922): would require a clear and conspicuous statement on political ads with an image, audio or video "created or materially altered using generative artificial intelligence." Minor edits are excepted, and the civil penalty is capped at $50,000 per covered communication. One search found no Senate version in this Congress.
• REAL Political Advertisements Act (H.R. 10814): would require communications already covered by the federal disclaimer rule, 52 U.S.C. 30120(a), to say so when they contain AI-generated images or video. Separately, it would extend the term "electioneering communication" to paid ads on platforms with 50,000,000 or more monthly U.S. users.
• FAIR Elections Act of 2026 (S. 4774): would bar knowingly distributing false AI-generated election media that gives materially false voting information to impede voting, or that falsely depicts an election official to intimidate, harass or deter. The Attorney General could sue for declaratory and injunctive relief.
• Securing Elections From AI Deception Act (H.R. 10841): would make it a crime, up to 1 year, for a developer or deployer to use a covered AI algorithm to intentionally deprive or defraud a person of the right to vote. It would also require a disclaimer on AI content simulating a candidate or giving voting information, enforced by the FTC.
• AI Ads Act (S. 5135, H.R. 9985): would state that the fraudulent misrepresentation ban in 52 U.S.C. 30124 includes AI-generated content, and would extend that ban from candidates and their agents to any person.

Federal Deepfake Fraud and Scam Bills

These bills target fraud and impersonation. Our deepfake fraud and impersonation laws page covers the fraud law that applies today.

• Artificial Intelligence Scam Prevention Act (S. 3495): would make it unlawful to "replicate any individual's image or voice, including through the use of artificial intelligence, with the intent to defraud," enforced by the FTC.
• AI Fraud Accountability Act (S. 3982): would add a new 47 U.S.C. 223(i) making it a crime to falsely pose as a real or imaginary person in a digital impersonation, in a manner intended to be taken as genuine, with intent to defraud. The maximum is 3 years. H.R. 7786 has a matching title; we describe only the Senate text.
• AI Fraud Deterrence Act (H.R. 6306): would raise maximum penalties for mail, wire and bank fraud and money laundering committed with the assistance of AI, and would add an AI provision to 18 U.S.C. 912.
• AI Impersonation Prevention Act of 2025 (H.R. 4628): would add to 18 U.S.C. 912 a crime of knowingly using AI to impersonate a federal officer or employee, including by mimicking a federal officer's voice or likeness without an explicit disclaimer, and thereby producing materially false or misleading content. The maximum is 3 years.
• QUIET Act (H.R. 1027, S. 3354): the House text would require a robocall that uses AI to emulate a human being to disclose that at the start.
• H.R. 334 (no short title): would add voice systems created through generative AI, such as voice cloning, to the standards for artificial or prerecorded voice systems in 47 U.S.C. 227(d)(3).
• Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act (H.R. 1734, S. 2117): would create a financial-sector AI task force and a report. It adds no new offense.

Federal Bills on Sexual Images and Platforms

Other bills approach the same harm from different directions.

• Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act (H.R. 1941): would create a separate civil action over disclosure of intimate digital depictions and a new crime, 18 U.S.C. 2252D, for disclosing or threatening to disclose one with certain intent or knowledge. The maximum would be 2 years, or 10 years where the depiction could reasonably be expected to affect a government proceeding, including election administration, or to facilitate violence.
• Protect Victims of Digital Exploitation and Manipulation Act of 2025 (H.R. 2564): would make it a crime, up to 5 years, to recklessly produce or distribute a digital forgery of an identifiable person's intimate image without consent. Unlike the TAKE IT DOWN Act, it would reach production.
• Increased Accountability for Nonconsensual Pornography Act (H.R. 2373): would raise the 15 U.S.C. 6851 liquidated damages figure from $150,000 to $500,000.
• Deepfake Liability Act (H.R. 6334): would condition Section 230(c)(1) protection on a process for addressing cyberstalking and intimate privacy violations, and would replace the 47 U.S.C. 223(h) forgery definition with a "sexually explicit digital forgery" definition. It is the only bill we found by title that would amend the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
• Stop Sextortion Act (S. 3398): would punish threats to distribute child sexual abuse material made with intent to intimidate, coerce, extort or cause substantial emotional distress, even where no such image existed.
• Protecting Our Children in an AI World Act of 2025 (H.R. 1283): would remove the 18 U.S.C. 2252A(c)(2) affirmative defense that the alleged child sexual abuse material was not produced using any actual minor, and would add to the definition of sexually explicit conduct in 18 U.S.C. 2256(2)(B).
• Safeguarding Against Fabricated Exploitation Through Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026 (S. 5057): would bar federal agencies from buying or using AI image or video models found out of line with a NIST profile on nonconsensual intimate imagery or child sexual abuse material, or that a federal court finds generated that material. It would also ban tools built to defeat a model's safeguards against child sexual abuse material, with a civil action.

The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (S. 1671, H.R. 3297) is not a deepfake bill, but it comes up in searches about a federal porn ban. It would add a definition of "obscene" for visual depictions to 47 U.S.C. 153 and strike the words "with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass another person" from 47 U.S.C. 223(a)(1)(A). The text we read has no new penalty section. It has been in committee since May 8, 2025, with no action.

Federal Digital Replica, Likeness and Label Bills

• Preventing Abuse of Digital Replicas Act (H.R. 10025): would use trademark law instead of a new right. A court would apply a rebuttable presumption of confusion when a digital replica of a living person is used on or in connection with goods or services, if the plaintiff invokes it.
• Protecting Consumers from Deceptive AI Act (H.R. 8893, H.R. 8479): the introduced text of H.R. 8893 would have NIST set up task forces on provenance metadata, watermarking and labeling. The House Science Committee ordered H.R. 8893 reported 35-0 on June 25, 2026, with a substitute we have not read, so we describe only the introduced text.
• COPIED Act (S. 1396): would set up a standards process. From 2 years after enactment, commercial tools for synthetic content would have to offer provenance information. Knowingly removing it in furtherance of an unfair or deceptive practice would be unlawful, and large covered platforms could not remove it, apart from a security-research exception.
• AI Labeling Act of 2026 (S. 4915): would require generative AI providers to put a clear and conspicuous label and a machine-readable disclosure on covered AI-generated content. Covered online platforms would have to identify that content and could not remove the disclosure, and chatbots would have to identify themselves. The FTC would enforce those duties.
• Spot the Fakes Act (H.R. 9578): would require a person who owns or controls AI-generated content to label it in the metadata or by other technological means, enforced by the FTC.

Deepfakes Accountability Act: Is There One?

No bill with that title appeared in our scan of the roughly 16,600 House and Senate bill titles in the 119th Congress. The name belongs to H.R. 5586, introduced by Rep. Clarke in the 118th Congress. Its last recorded action was a subcommittee referral on September 20, 2023.

Rep. Clarke's REAL Political Advertisements Act, H.R. 10814, is a different bill on AI in political ads.

TAKE IT DOWN Act: What Is Already Federal Law

The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed May 19, 2025, makes it a crime to knowingly publish certain intimate images online, including realistic AI fakes it calls "digital forgeries." For a forgery of an adult, the government must show it was published without consent, that what it shows was not voluntarily exposed in a public or commercial setting and is not a matter of public concern, and that the publication was meant to cause harm or did cause it.

For a minor, it must show intent to abuse, humiliate, harass or degrade the minor, or to arouse or gratify sexual desire. Penalties reach 2 years for adults and 3 years for minors, and threatening to publish a forgery can bring up to 18 or 30 months. Since May 19, 2026, covered platforms must remove an image within 48 hours of a valid request, and the FTC enforces that duty.

It does not ban deepfakes, does not make creation a crime, and reaches intimate images only. The Act's details live on our TAKE IT DOWN Act guide.

What Happens on January 3, 2027

The 119th Congress ends at noon on January 3, 2027, when the terms of Senators and Representatives end under Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment.

A bill that has not passed both chambers before the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027 does not carry over. It would have to be introduced again in the next Congress. That covers S. 1837, even though the Senate passed it, and S. 4591.

The Senate's rules carry business over only between sessions of the same Congress. DEFIANCE shows the practice: S. 3696 passed the Senate in 2024, lapsed, and came back as S. 1837.

Congress could still act before then. We re-check these bills monthly and again right after the Congress ends, and any change goes in the log below.

No TAKE IT DOWN Act date remains in 2027: the platform deadline passed on May 19, 2026, and the Act has no sunset.

If You Are Dealing With a Deepfake Now

The bills on this page give you nothing to use yet. These routes exist today:

• Covered platforms: a valid removal request under the TAKE IT DOWN Act starts a 48-hour clock. The FTC takes complaints at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.
• Adults: StopNCII.org says you can use its tool for a deepfake of you if you have access to the image and it is nude or semi-nude. It works only on participating platforms.
• Images of minors: if an image may show someone under 18, do not copy, screenshot or forward it. Report it to police and to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Its Take It Down service helps with images taken of you when you were under 18, and its site does not say whether it accepts AI-made images.
• State law: see the deepfake laws by state hub and revenge porn laws by state. Your local police, your state attorney general, a state bar lawyer referral service or a legal aid office can tell you what applies where you live.

Status Log

• November 5, 2026: Page published. Status of every bill above read from Congress.gov. No change since the entries below.
• October 19, 2026: H.R. 10841 referred to House Energy and Commerce.
• October 15, 2026: H.R. 10814 referred to House Administration.
• August 3, 2026: H.R. 10025 referred to House Judiciary.
• July 30, 2026: H.R. 9985 referred to House Administration.
• July 27, 2026: S. 5135 referred to Senate Rules and Administration.
• July 23, 2026: H.R. 9922 referred to House Administration.
• July 21, 2026: S. 5057 referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
• July 2, 2026: H.R. 9578 referred to House Energy and Commerce.
• June 25, 2026: House Science Committee ordered H.R. 8893 reported, 35-0.
• June 24, 2026: S. 4591 reported with a substitute; Senate Calendar No. 446. S. 4915 referred to Senate Commerce.
• June 18, 2026: Senate Judiciary Committee ordered S. 4591 reported.
• June 11, 2026: S. 4774 referred to Senate Rules and Administration.
• May 20, 2026: S. 4591 introduced; H.R. 8915 referred to House Judiciary.
• May 19, 2026: FTC began enforcing the TAKE IT DOWN Act's platform duty.
• January 13, 2026: Senate passed S. 1837 by unanimous consent; held at the desk in the House.
• May 19, 2025: TAKE IT DOWN Act signed, Pub. L. 119-12.

Related Pages

• Deepfake laws by state
• TAKE IT DOWN Act
• Revenge porn laws by state
• AI voice cloning laws
• Right of publicity
• Deepfake fraud and impersonation laws
• AI laws
• State AI law preemption

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the DEFIANCE Act pass?

It passed the Senate, not the House. As of November 5, 2026, the Senate had passed S. 1837 by unanimous consent on January 13, 2026, the House had not voted, and the bill was not law.

Is the DEFIANCE Act law?

No. As of November 5, 2026, S. 1837 was held at the desk in the House and H.R. 3562 remained in the House Judiciary Committee. If it has not passed both chambers before the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027, it would have to be introduced again.

Can I sue under the DEFIANCE Act?

No, because it is not law. Current 15 U.S.C. 6851 allows a suit over a nonconsensual disclosure of an intimate visual depiction, but whether a pure fake counts is unsettled. State law may give you a claim.

Is the NO FAKES Act law?

No. As of November 5, 2026, S. 4591 was on the Senate calendar as No. 446 with no floor vote, and H.R. 8915 was in the House Judiciary Committee.

What is the latest news on the NO FAKES Act?

As of November 5, 2026, the newest action on S. 4591 was June 24, 2026, when it was reported with a substitute and placed on the Senate calendar as No. 446. The status log on this page records later changes.

What would the NO FAKES Act do?

The Senate substitute would create a federal right to authorize digital replicas of a person's voice or visual likeness, enforced by civil suit, with exclusions for uses such as news and parody and a takedown process for online services.

Would the NO FAKES Act make deepfakes a crime?

No. The Senate substitute as reported has no criminal penalty. It would create civil liability, with a knowledge requirement, for making unauthorized digital replicas available to the public and for certain products or services.

Is there a Deepfakes Accountability Act?

Not in this Congress by our title scan of about 16,600 bills. The name belongs to H.R. 5586 in the 118th Congress. A bill with a neutral title would fall outside that scan.

Is there a federal law against deepfakes?

Not a general one. The TAKE IT DOWN Act reaches the knowing publication of certain intimate images, including realistic forgeries, and platform removal of them. It does not cover non-sexual deepfakes, voice clones or the act of creating an image.

Is Trump making porn illegal?

The record we read does not show that. President Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which targets the knowing publication of certain intimate images of identifiable people, not consensual adult pornography. Nothing we opened shows him sponsoring or signing an obscenity bill. The Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (S. 1671, H.R. 3297) has been in committee since May 8, 2025, with no action. No bill that we found that would ban adult pornography has passed either chamber.

What happens to these bills on January 3, 2027?

A bill that has not passed both chambers before the 119th Congress ends on January 3, 2027 does not carry over. It would have to be introduced again in the next Congress.