Georgia Deepfake Laws: AI Images, Voice Cloning & Penalties (2026)

Georgia criminalizes nonconsensual sexual deepfakes through OCGA § 16-11-90, which was amended in 2020 to explicitly cover "falsely created" videographic and still images. No election deepfake law and no AI voice-cloning statute have been enacted in Georgia, though multiple bills failed in the 2025-2026 legislative sessions. The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (P.L. 119-12, 2025) layers on top of state law to address intimate deepfakes nationwide.

Is It Illegal to Make a Deepfake of Someone in Georgia?

Yes, for sexual content. Georgia covers deepfakes in three contexts: nonconsensual intimate imagery involving adults, AI-generated child sexual abuse material involving minors, and (at the federal level) intimate deepfakes under the TAKE IT DOWN Act. What Georgia does not yet have is an election deepfake statute or a voice-cloning law, placing it in the majority of states that have addressed intimate imagery but left political and voice contexts unregulated at the state level.

A non-sexual, non-commercial deepfake of a private person (for example, a realistic video placing someone at a location they never visited) falls outside Georgia's criminal statutes. Common law torts such as defamation or false light invasion of privacy may apply depending on the circumstances, but there is no standalone criminal prohibition covering that scenario.

For content involving minors, Georgia's CSAM statute and federal law both apply. The 2024 amendment to OCGA § 16-12-100 closed a loophole that had allowed defendants to argue that AI-synthesized material was not covered because no real child was depicted.

Sexual and Intimate Deepfakes

OCGA § 16-11-90 is Georgia's core NCII statute. It prohibits electronically transmitting or posting a photograph or video depicting nudity or sexually explicit conduct of an adult without that person's consent. The elements stack rather than substitute for one another: the transmission or post must be harassment or cause financial loss to the depicted person, must serve no legitimate purpose to the depicted person, and must be made either to a website, gallery, message board, or similar service that advertises or promotes its service as showing, previewing, or distributing sexually explicit conduct, or by any other electronic means. The 2020 amendment (effective August 3, 2020) inserted "including a falsely created videographic or still image" into the definition of prohibited content. That language squarely covers AI-generated deepfakes: a synthetic intimate image of an identifiable Georgia resident falls within the statute's reach.

The penalty structure depends on the method of distribution and whether it is a repeat offense, and the two pathways are very different. A first offense under subsection (b)(1)(B) or (b)(2)(B), meaning a post made by ordinary electronic means, is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature; a second or subsequent violation becomes a felony punishable by one to five years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both, under OCGA § 16-11-90(c)(1). A post under subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(2)(A), meaning one made to a website, file-sharing site, gallery, live webcam, web page, or message board that advertises or promotes its service as showing, previewing, or distributing sexually explicit conduct, is a felony on the very first offense, punishable by one to five years and a fine of up to $100,000, rising to two to five years on a second or subsequent conviction under OCGA § 16-11-90(c)(2). Georgia has not enacted a statutory civil cause of action for NCII deepfake victims; civil options are limited to common law claims such as invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress.

For minors, HB 993 (2024 session, effective July 1, 2024) amended OCGA § 16-12-100, Georgia's sexual exploitation of children statute. The amendment provides that it is not a defense to prosecution that the sexually exploitive visual medium was created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor was engaging in sexually explicit conduct. This eliminates the argument that AI-generated or deepfaked child sexual abuse material falls outside the statute because no real child was involved.

Georgia also came close to adding a dedicated AI child-exploitation statute. SB 9 (2025), the "Ensuring Accountability for Illegal AI Activities Act" sponsored by Sen. John Albers, would have repealed and replaced OCGA § 16-12-80 with a new offense of distributing computer-generated obscene material depicting a child, punishable by one to 15 years, and would have added sentencing enhancements in Title 17 for defendants who use an artificial intelligence system to commit certain offenses. The House passed it by committee substitute on March 27, 2025, but the Senate disagreed with the House substitute on January 28, 2026 and the chambers did not resolve the difference, so it has not become law.

Election and Political Deepfakes

Georgia does not have an enacted election deepfake law as of June 2026. Nothing in Georgia law requires a disclaimer on AI-generated campaign material, and no Georgia statute makes deceptive synthetic political media a crime. HB 986, an election deepfake measure, was tabled by the Georgia Senate in March 2024 and did not become law, and no replacement has been enacted since.

SB 9 (2025) is frequently miscast as Georgia's election deepfake bill. It is not. SB 9 is the "Ensuring Accountability for Illegal AI Activities Act," which deals with computer-generated obscene material depicting a child and with sentencing enhancements for AI-assisted crimes, as described in the previous section. It contains no campaign, disclaimer, or pre-election provision.

A First Amendment caveat frames the absence of a law here. A federal court enjoined portions of California's election deepfake law in August 2025 on free-speech grounds, and Georgia legislators would face the same constitutional headwinds if a disclosure bill advances in a future session.

For details on how Georgia regulates AI more broadly, including government procurement and algorithmic decision-making, see Georgia AI Laws.

AI Voice Cloning and Digital Likeness

Georgia has not enacted an AI voice-cloning law. Georgia's right of publicity is a common law doctrine rather than a statute; the Georgia Supreme Court recognized it in Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change v. American Heritage Products (1982). It covers commercial use of a person's name and likeness without consent, but courts have not explicitly treated voice as a protected attribute, and no Georgia court has extended the "likeness" concept to voice in the AI context.

By comparison, Tennessee's ELVIS Act (Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-25-1101 et seq., effective July 1, 2024) is the national reference point: it expressly extended right-of-publicity protection to voice, including AI simulations, making Tennessee the first state to close this gap. Georgia has not followed that model.

HB 566 (2025), Georgia's "NO FAKES Act," would have protected the voice and visual likeness of individuals against unauthorized AI-generated digital replicas, providing a registry of designated agents and civil remedies. The bill failed to advance past Georgia's crossover deadline (March 6, 2025) and did not become law. No action was taken before the two-year legislative term ended in April 2026, so a new bill would need to be introduced in a future session.

At the federal level, the proposed NO FAKES Act (S.4591 / H.R.8915, 119th Congress) would create a federal right of publicity for voice and likeness against unauthorized AI digital replicas. As of June 2026, it has not passed either chamber and is not current law.

For Georgia residents whose voice or likeness is being used commercially without consent, a civil claim under the existing common law right of publicity is the best available avenue, though the absence of explicit voice protection makes success uncertain. Using an AI-cloned voice in a robocall without consent is separately prohibited under the federal FCC ruling described below.

If your work intersects with AI in meetings or call recording, Georgia Recording Laws covers Georgia's one-party consent framework.

Federal Law That Applies in Georgia

The TAKE IT DOWN Act (Public Law 119-12, signed May 19, 2025) is the first federal law directly targeting intimate deepfakes. It creates a federal crime for knowingly publishing nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, expressly including AI-generated "digital forgeries" covering adults or minors. Penalties run up to two years in prison, or three years when minors are involved. Separately, the Act requires online platforms to remove flagged content within 48 hours of receiving a victim's notice; the FTC enforces platform compliance, with the full removal obligation effective May 19, 2026.

Because Georgia's OCGA § 16-11-90 covers the same general conduct, both state criminal charges and a federal TAKE IT DOWN removal request can run in parallel for the same deepfake image. Victims in Georgia are not limited to choosing one path.

The DEFIANCE Act (S.1837 / H.R.3562, 119th Congress) would create a federal civil cause of action for sexual deepfake victims with liquidated damages up to $150,000 ($250,000 if the conduct involved actual or attempted sexual assault, stalking, or harassment). The 118th Congress version passed the Senate in July 2024 but died in the House; it was reintroduced in 2025 and passed the Senate again in January 2026, but it remains pending in the House. It is not current law.

The FCC ruled in February 2024 (FCC 24-17) that AI-generated voices in robocalls qualify as "artificial" voices under the TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227. AI voice-clone robocalls to phones without prior express consent are illegal nationwide, including in Georgia.

Federal CSAM law also applies independently of state statutes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2256(8)(B) (PROTECT Act, 2003), computer-generated images that are indistinguishable from real minors are covered regardless of whether any real child was involved. No First Amendment defense applies to such material.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. § 230) does not immunize platforms from federal criminal law or from the TAKE IT DOWN Act's removal obligations. State criminal laws targeting creators are not Section 230-barred.

What Victims Can Do

For sexual deepfake victims in Georgia, the first step is a criminal complaint to local law enforcement or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). OCGA § 16-11-90 is a state criminal statute; prosecutors can pursue it independently. Georgia does not provide a statutory civil cause of action under § 16-11-90, so civil remedies require pursuing common law claims like invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress, which require proving actual damages.

Platform removal runs as a parallel track. Under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a victim can submit a removal notice to any covered platform and the platform must act within 48 hours. The FTC enforces this requirement. Most major platforms also have independent NCII reporting processes, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) operates the Take It Down program specifically for minors' images.

For AI robocall voice-cloning violations, file a complaint with the FCC at fcc.gov. For political advertisement deepfakes, Georgia does not have a state election deepfake law, so state-level enforcement is not available; the FEC governs federal candidates under separate authority.

Penalties at a Glance

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Georgia deepfake and AI laws, not legal advice. This area of law is changing rapidly; the content here reflects statutes and bills as of June 2026 but may not capture recent amendments, newly enacted legislation, or court decisions. If you have been harmed by a deepfake or face related charges, consult a licensed Georgia attorney.

For the full 50-state comparison, see Deepfake and AI Voice Cloning Laws by State.

Sources

See the full list of primary sources cited for this page below.

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