AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF DIGITAL DEFRAUDING.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify the exact penalties for violating this law or how it will be enforced.

Law to Establish Digital Defrauding as a Crime

This law makes it illegal to create and share fake images or audio recordings of someone without their permission, with the intent to cause financial harm.

What This Bill Does

• Defines digital defrauding as creating and disseminating a digitally forged likeness (fake image or voice recording) that causes financial damage when done with intent.
• Explains that 'disseminate' means to share in any way, including selling, giving, lending, mailing, delivering, publishing, distributing, circulating, presenting, exhibiting, advertising, or offering the fake content.
• States that a digitally forged likeness is an image or recording made partly or wholly by computer and looks real enough for people to believe it's genuine without consent from the person depicted.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who create and share fake images or audio recordings of others without permission, with intent to cause financial harm.
• Providers of internet services, information services, and telecommunications services are not held responsible if they did not know that the content was being created or shared illegally.

Terms To Know

disseminate

To share in any way, including selling, giving, lending, mailing, delivering, publishing, distributing, circulating, presenting, exhibiting, advertising, or offering the content.

digitally forged likeness

An image or recording made partly or wholly by computer that looks real enough for people to believe it's genuine without consent from the person depicted.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not apply if the provider of an interactive computer service, information service, or telecommunications service did not know that the content was being created or shared illegally.
• It is unclear how this law will be enforced and what penalties will be applied.

Official Summary Text

To establish the crime of digital forgery.

Current Bill Text

Substitute Senate Bill No. 483

Public Act No. 26-119

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF DIGITAL DEFRAUDING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 53a -119 of the general statutes is amended by
adding subdivision (19) as follows (Effective October 1, 2026):
(NEW) (19) Digital defrauding. (A) A person is guilty of digital
defrauding when such person, with intent to cause financial injury to
another person, creates and disseminates a visual representation or
audio recording that such person knows or should have known is a
digitally forged likeness. (B) For purposes of this subdivision, (i)
"disseminate" means to sell, give, provide, lend, trade, mail, deliver,
transfer, publish, distribute, circulate, present, exhibit, advertise or
otherwise offer; and (ii) "Digitally forged likeness" means any
photograph, film, videotape or other visual representation of a person
or an audio recording of a person's voice that (I) is not wholly recorded
by a camera or an audio recorder, or either partially or wholly generated
by a computer system, (II) depicts, and is virtually indistinguishable
from what a reasonable person would believe is the actual depiction of
an identifiable person's image or voice, and (III) is created without the
consent of the person whose image or voice is depicted. (C) In any
prosecution for an offense under this subdivision, it shall be an
affirmative defense that the defendant took reasonable action to place
Substitute Senate Bill No. 483

Public Act No. 26-119 2 of 2

viewers or listeners of a digitally forged likeness on notice that such
visual representation or audio recording is a digitally forged likeness.
(D) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose liability on
the provider of an interactive computer service, as defined in 47 USC
230, an information service, as defined in 47 USC 153, or a
telecommunications service, as defined in section 16 -247a, for the
creation of content at the request of another person or the dissemination
of content provided by another person, provided such provider did not
know that such content was being created or disseminated in violation
of this subdivision.