Senate Bill 441 | Effective: 9-1-25 |
Senate Author: Hinojosa, Juan "Chuy" et al. | Senate Committee: Criminal Justice |
House Sponsor: Lalani | House Committee: Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence |
Previous law established an offense for the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit deep fake videos depicting a real person performing an action that did not actually occur. Senate Bill 441 amends the Penal Code to expand the scope of that offense to include any visual depiction or media created or altered through computer-generated or technological means, including artificial intelligence (AI). The bill also creates an offense for a person who intentionally threatens to produce or distribute deep fake media with the intent to coerce, extort, harass, or intimidate another person.
Senate Bill 441 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to set out provisions relating to liability for the unlawful production, solicitation, disclosure, or promotion of certain artificial intimate visual material, including the liability of owners of Internet websites or applications, social media platforms, certain AI applications, and related payment processors. The bill requires a person who owns an Internet website or application, including a social media platform, to provide an easily accessible system that allows requests for the removal of artificial intimate visual material from the website or application. The bill also provides for the optional use of a confidential identity by a claimant in a suit regarding the unlawful production, solicitation, disclosure, or promotion of intimate visual material and sets the statute of limitations period for a person to bring such a suit at 10 years from the discovery of the applicable intimate visual material or the 18th birthday of the person depicted, whichever is later.