California SB 926 (crime to create & share realistic fake nudes of real people)
California Criminalization of Distributing Deepfake Intimate Images (SB 926)
California · Cal. Penal Code 647 (SB 926, Stats. 2024)
- Status
- In effect
- Took effect
- January 1, 2025
- Applies to
- Persons 18 or older (the conduct is prohibited generally).
- Enforced by
- Local district attorneys and California prosecutors (criminal enforcement).
California extends its criminal ban on distributing private intimate images to cover digitally fabricated ones. It is now a crime for an adult to intentionally create and distribute a sexually explicit image of an identifiable person made to look authentic, when the distributor knows or should know it will cause that person serious emotional distress and the person in fact suffers that distress. This closes a gap that left realistic AI-generated fakes outside the existing intimate-image law.
Who is protected: Identifiable persons depicted in realistic, digitally created sexually explicit images distributed without consent.
Legal detail
SB 926 amended Cal. Penal Code 647 (disorderly conduct / intimate-image distribution) to criminalize intentionally creating and distributing a photorealistic, computer-generated, or otherwise digitally created sexually explicit image of an identifiable person, made to appear authentic, where the distributor knows or should know it will cause serious emotional distress and the depicted person suffers that distress.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | California |
|---|---|
| Level | State |
| Strength | Limited |
| Enacted | September 19, 2024 |
| Citation | Cal. Penal Code 647 (SB 926, Stats. 2024) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | Carries the existing criminal misdemeanor penalties applicable to the underlying intimate-image distribution offense. |
| Topics | non-consensual intimate imagery · AI-generated images |
| Bill text | California SB 926 (2023-2024): Crimes: distribution of intimate images |
More AI rules in California
- CA EO N-6-26 (AI Workforce) · In effect
- California AB 489 (AI healthcare chatbot misrepresentation ban) · In effect
- X.AI v. Bonta (AB 2013 training-data disclosure) · Blocked / in litigation
- CA SB 1168 — data center grid cost allocation · Enacted (not yet in effect)
- California SB 1119 Adam's Law, companion chatbots (2026) · Enacted (not yet in effect)
- California SB 867 AI chatbot toy moratorium (2026) · Enacted (not yet in effect)
Related non-consensual intimate imagery rules elsewhere
- Arizona HB 2133 deepfake sexual content — vetoed 2026 · Vetoed
- Illinois HB 3851 — deepfake cyberbullying in schools (2026) · In effect
- TAKE IT DOWN Act · In effect
- DEFIANCE Act (deepfake-porn civil suits) · Proposed / pending
- NY S5959-D (2020, digital replicas + deepfake porn) · In effect
- Missouri Deepfake & Digital Media Protection Act · Proposed / pending
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