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Substitute House Bill No. 5312
Public Act No. 26-55
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CIVIL ACTION FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL AND A PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR
VICTIMS OF UNLAWFUL DISSEMINATION OF A SYNTHETICALLY
CREATED INTIMATE IMAGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) Any individual harmed
by the unlawful dissemination of a synthetically created intimate image
may bring a civil action in the Superior Court to enjoin further
dissemination of such image and for economic and noneconomic
damages, including damages for e motional distress and punitive
damages, that are determined to have been proximately caused by
reason of such dissemination. The court may award costs and
reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party. Such civil action may
be maintained against such individual who knowingly disseminates by
electronic or other means a synthetically created intimate image with
the intent to harm such other individual.
(b) At the request of the individual initiating an action brought
pursuant to this section, the court may, in its discretion, conduct all legal
proceedings in such a way as to protect the identity of the individual
initiating the action.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit any
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individual's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise
allowed by law.
(d) A civil action under this section shall not be commenced by any
individual harmed by the unlawful dissemination of any synthetically
created intimate image but within two years from the date of the
discovery of unlawful dissemination of the synthetically created
intimate image by such individual.
(e) For the purposes of this section, (1) "disseminate", "harm" and
"synthetically created image" have the same meanings as provided in
section 53a-189d of the general statutes, (2) "intimate image" means any
image when such image is of (A) the genitals, p ubic area or buttocks of
another individual with less than fully opaque covering of such body
part, or the breast of another individual who is female with less than a
fully opaque covering of any portion of such breast below the top of the
nipple, or (B) a nother individual engaged in sexual intercourse or
sexually explicit conduct, as those terms are defined in section 53a -193
of the general statutes, and (3) "synthetically created intimate image"
means an intimate image that is a synthetically created image.
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) A covered platform, as
described in 47 USC 223a , shall establish and maintain a process
whereby an individual harmed as described in section 1 of this act or the
Attorney General may notify the covered platform of a synthetically
created intimate image unlawfully disseminated and may request that
such synthetically created intimate image be removed. Such process
shall include, in writing, (1) (A) a valid signature of the individual
harmed or of an authorized person acting on behalf of such individual,
or (B) a duly authorized agent or designee of the At torney General, (2)
information reasonably sufficient for the covered platform to locate the
synthetically created intimate image in question, including any digital
evidence and, if applicable, any particular uniform resource locator, (3)
a brief statement that the synthetically created intimate image was
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published without consent or is otherwise in violation of law, and (4)
where the request was submitted by the individual harmed as described
in section 1 of this act or an authorized person acting on behalf of such
individual, information sufficient to ena ble the covered platform to
contact such individual or such authorized person acting on behalf of
such individual.
(b) A covered platform shall provide on the platform a clear and
conspicuous notice, which may be provided through a clear and
conspicuous link to another web page or disclosure of the process
established in subsection (a) of this section that (1) is easy to read and in
plain language, and (2) provides information regarding the
responsibilities of the covered platform under this section, including a
description of how an individual can submit a notice and request for
removal of a synthetically created intimate image.
(c) Upon receiving a valid removal request pursuant to subsection (a)
of this section, a covered platform shall, as soon as possible, but not later
than forty -eight hours after receiving such request, (1) remove the
synthetically created intimate image, and (2) make reasonable efforts to
identify and remove copies of such synthetically created intimate image.
(d) A covered platform, acting in good faith in accordance with this
section, shall not be liable for any claim based on the covered platform's
disabling of access to, or removal of, any synthetically created intimate
image.
(e) Upon petition to the Superior Court by the Attorney General, a
covered platform that violates the provisions of this section may be
subject to civil penalties of up to twenty -five thousand dollars per day
for an individual harmed as described in section 1 of this act.
(f) The Attorney General may combine such action with any other
action within the Attorney General's power to maintain, including an
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action under chapter 735a of the general statutes.
(g) Nothing in this section shall limit the right of an individual
adversely affected by violations of the law from bringing a private cause
of action under section 1 of this act or any other law that may entitle
such individual to relief.
(h) As used in this section, "synthetically created intimate image" has
the same meaning as provided in section 1 of this act.