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

Indiana has enacted laws addressing deepfakes in two areas: nonconsensual sexual deepfakes and AI-manipulated election advertising. House Enrolled Act 1047 (2024) made Indiana one of the first states to explicitly treat AI-generated intimate images as criminal nonconsensual pornography under IC 35-45-4-8. A separate 2024 law (IC 3-9-8-5) requires disclosure labels on deepfake political ads. Indiana's right of publicity statute explicitly protects voice from unauthorized commercial use.

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

It depends on the type of deepfake. Indiana law covers nonconsensual sexual deepfakes criminally and civilly, and regulates deepfake election advertising through a disclosure-and-civil-remedy framework. Outside those two categories, Indiana has no general-purpose deepfake prohibition.

Creating a sexual deepfake of an identifiable person and distributing it without consent is a crime under IC 35-45-4-8 as amended. Making a deepfake of a politician for a campaign ad without the disclaimer required by IC 3-9-8-5 is actionable civilly by the depicted candidate under IC 3-9-8-6. Using someone's voice in an AI simulation for commercial purposes without consent can violate Indiana's right of publicity statute, IC 32-36-1. Satire, parody, news reporting, and clearly labeled fiction are not covered.

Sexual and Intimate Deepfakes

Indiana directly addressed AI-generated sexual imagery in 2024. HEA 1047 (P.L. 79-2024), signed by Governor Eric Holcomb and effective July 1, 2024, amended IC 35-45-4-8 to define an "intimate image" as including "a photograph, digital image, computer generated image, or video of an individual created or modified by means of a computer software program, artificial intelligence, application, or other digital editing tools." That language equates a convincing AI-generated nude image of a real person with an actual photograph.

Distributing such an image, knowing or having reason to know that the depicted person does not consent, is a Class A misdemeanor: up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The offense escalates to a Level 6 felony when the defendant has a prior conviction under the statute. Level 6 felonies in Indiana carry six months to two and a half years in prison and fines up to $10,000. HEA 1047 also amended Indiana's separate civil nonconsensual pornography statute, IC 34-21.5 (enacted in 2019), so its definition of intimate image now covers computer generated images as well. Victims can pursue criminal charges, a civil lawsuit, or both.

Indiana's child exploitation statute, IC 35-42-4-4, defines "image" broadly as "any visual representation" and makes it a Level 4 felony to produce or create an image containing sexual conduct by a child under eighteen "or who appears to be a child less than eighteen (18) years of age," rising to a Level 3 felony in aggravated cases and a Level 2 felony when the offense is committed by force or threat of force. Federal law (18 U.S.C. 2256(8)(B)) also reaches photorealistic AI-generated images indistinguishable from a real minor, and federal CSAM prosecutions carry severe mandatory minimums regardless of state law.

Election and Political Deepfakes

Indiana enacted IC 3-9-8 via HEA 1133 (P.L. 81-2024), signed March 12, 2024 and effective immediately upon signing under the act's emergency clause. The law requires a campaign communication containing fabricated media that depicts a candidate to include a prominent disclaimer: "Elements of this media have been digitally altered or artificially generated."

The statute defines "fabricated media" broadly: an audio or visual recording of a person's speech, conduct, or appearance altered without their consent; an artificially generated imitation of a person; or material depicting the speech or appearance of an entirely fictional person. Critically, the fabricated content must convey a materially inaccurate or fictional depiction of the real person, and it must be realistic enough that a reasonable person could not tell it was altered or artificially generated. Clearly labeled satire falls outside the definition.

Enforcement is civil rather than criminal, and the remedy sits in a separate section from the labeling duty. IC 3-9-8-5 states the disclaimer requirement and its print, audio, and video formatting rules. IC 3-9-8-6 supplies the cause of action: a candidate depicted in unlabeled fabricated media may sue the person that paid for the campaign communication, the person that sponsored it, and a disseminator who knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly altered or removed a disclaimer that was present when the communication was provided to them. A prevailing plaintiff recovers actual damages, injunctive relief, and court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, but carries the burden of proving the depiction by clear and convincing evidence. Courts must expedite the hearing. The law does not carry criminal penalties.

A caution about election deepfake laws in general: California's similar law (AB 2839) was struck down in its entirety and permanently enjoined in August 2025 on First Amendment grounds in Kohls v. Bonta, and litigation challenging state election deepfake statutes continues nationally. Indiana's disclosure-only approach (requiring a label rather than banning content outright) is considered more defensible than outright bans, but the legal landscape is still evolving.

AI Voice Cloning and Digital Likeness

Indiana's right of publicity statute, IC 32-36-1 (enacted in its current form in 1994), is among the most comprehensive in the country. It explicitly enumerates nine protected attributes of a "personality": name, voice, signature, photograph, image, likeness, distinctive appearance, gesture, and mannerisms. Unlike states that protect only name and likeness, Indiana expressly protects voice by statute, without needing a court to extend an analog rule.

Any person who uses an aspect of a personality's right of publicity for a commercial purpose without prior written consent violates the statute. That prohibition applies whether the personality is living or deceased; Indiana's postmortem right of publicity extends for 100 years after death. An AI voice clone used in a commercial, advertisement, or product endorsement without the subject's written consent falls squarely within the statute's reach.

The statute differs from Tennessee's ELVIS Act (Tenn. Code Ann. 47-25-1101 et seq., eff. July 1, 2024), which was specifically written with AI music cloning in mind and added a dedicated takedown mechanism. Indiana's law predates widespread AI voice cloning but is broad enough to apply. Damages include the greater of $1,000 or actual damages; courts must award reasonable attorney's fees; and willful violations can trigger treble or punitive damages.

No AI-specific amendment to IC 32-36-1 has been enacted as of mid-2026. The existing language covers the conduct, but the absence of AI-specific provisions means edge cases (such as de minimis AI voice use or transformative artistic works) will be resolved through litigation under the existing framework.

Federal Law That Applies in Indiana

The TAKE IT DOWN Act (Public Law 119-12, signed May 19, 2025) is the first federal law directly targeting intimate deepfakes. It makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish nonconsensual intimate visual depictions of real adults or minors, expressly including AI-generated "digital forgeries." Penalties reach two years in prison, or three years when the victim is a minor. Platforms must remove flagged content within 48 hours of a victim's notice request, with the Federal Trade Commission enforcing the removal obligation.

TAKE IT DOWN complements Indiana's IC 35-45-4-8: an Indiana victim can report to local law enforcement under state law and to the FBI or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) under federal law. The 48-hour platform-removal rule operates independently of any criminal prosecution.

The DEFIANCE Act (S.1837, 119th Congress) would create a federal civil cause of action for sexual deepfake victims with liquidated damages up to $150,000, or $250,000 if the conduct involved actual or attempted sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent on January 13, 2026, but remains pending in the House and is not yet law. The NO FAKES Act (S.4591, 119th Congress) would create a federal right of publicity for voice and likeness against unauthorized AI digital replicas; it also remains a proposal only.

The FTC's Impersonation Rule (16 CFR Part 461, eff. April 1, 2024) prohibits deceptive AI impersonation of government entities and businesses. The FCC's February 2024 ruling (FCC 24-17) declared that AI-generated voices in robocalls are "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, making AI voice-clone robocalls without prior express consent illegal nationwide.

What Victims Can Do

An Indiana victim of a sexual deepfake has several options. Criminally, they can file a police report under IC 35-45-4-8; the offense is prosecuted as a Class A misdemeanor or Level 6 felony. The TAKE IT DOWN Act also creates a federal criminal pathway, and victims can submit complaints through NCMEC's CyberTipline.

Civilly, victims can sue under IC 34-21.5, Indiana's nonconsensual pornography cause of action, for damages including emotional distress and reputational harm. If an AI voice clone was used commercially without consent, an additional civil claim lies under IC 32-36-1 with statutory damages of at least $1,000 and potential treble damages.

For platform removal, the TAKE IT DOWN Act requires platforms to remove flagged intimate images within 48 hours of a victim's notice. Many major platforms (Meta, Google, Snapchat) also have their own NCII removal policies that operate independently. Victims can use the StopNCII.org hash-matching service to prevent an image from spreading across participating platforms without having to submit the image itself.

A candidate depicted in an unlabeled AI political ad can seek actual damages, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees against the payer, the sponsor, or a disseminator who stripped the disclaimer under IC 3-9-8-6; the labeling duty itself sits in IC 3-9-8-5. Consulting a private attorney is advisable; free or low-cost legal assistance may be available through Indiana Legal Services (indianalegalservices.org).

Penalties at a Glance

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Indiana deepfake laws and is not legal advice. Laws in this area are changing rapidly at both the state and federal level. If you have been harmed by a deepfake or face charges related to synthetic media, consult a licensed Indiana attorney.

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