Artificial Intelligence
Louisiana bill would expand deepfake law to AI sexual images
The change adds synthetic sexual abuse to the state’s unlawful-deepfakes statute and gives prosecutors a clearer path when a camera was never involved. It also creates separate treatment for minors under 17 in some cases and adds extra punishment for educators accused of targetin
Louisiana lawmakers are expanding the state’s deepfake law so it covers AI-generated sexual images and other nonconsensual synthetic images. The bill also sets new definitions and penalties, and it now awaits the governor’s decision.
- Synthetic sexual images of minors would fall under Louisiana’s deepfake law.
- The bill also covers nonconsensual AI images using another person’s likeness.
- Available vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.
- It is backed by Republican Rep. Bryan Fontenot and Democratic Rep. Alonzo Knox.
- A sexual image made with artificial intelligence can do the same damage as a real photo, and Louisiana is trying to make the law catch up
A sexual image made with artificial intelligence can do the same damage as a real photo, and Louisiana is trying to make the law catch up. The proposal would expand the state’s unlawful-deepfakes statute, R.S. 14:73.13, so it covers material that depicts a minor engaging in sexual conduct and other synthetic sexual images tied to another person’s likeness without consent.
That matters because the harm does not depend on a camera being there in the first place. The bill is built to close a gap in criminal language that was written before AI-generated sexual abuse became easy to produce and harder to pin down.
Where the law gets sharper
The changes do not stop at one section of the criminal code. The bill would also amend R.S. 14:73.14, enact R.S. 73.14.1 and add related education-code references, threading the new rules through Louisiana’s broader computer-crime framework.
Available vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.
A wider net around synthetic abuse
The practical effect is a cleaner path for prosecutors and a clearer signal for victims: a person’s image can be misused in a sexual way even when no one ever took the picture. The bill reaches both minors and adults whose likeness is turned into nonconsensual synthetic sexual imagery.
The proposal is backed by Republican Rep. Bryan Fontenot and Democratic Rep. Alonzo Knox.