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House Judiciary Committee advances bill creating offense for malicious deepfakes
Summary
The House Judiciary Committee voted to report Senate Bill 649, which would add a 'digital forgery' offense targeting malicious deepfakes created or distributed with intent to defraud or injure; the measure passed the committee 25-1.
Senator Pennycook introduced Senate Bill 649 to the House Judiciary Committee, saying the measure would expand Pennsylvania forgery law to penalize “malicious deepfakes” that are created and distributed to defraud or injure a real person.
The bill “builds on Pennsylvania's existing forgery statutes to address this modern threat,” Senator Pennycook told the committee. He called deepfakes “digital forgeries” and said the legislation balances accountability with First Amendment protections.
Committee counsel Dave Vitale described the statutory elements: a person would be guilty of digital forgery if, with intent to defraud or injure (or knowingly facilitating such a scheme), the person generates or distributes a forged digital likeness as genuine and knows or reasonably should know it is forged. Vitale said the offense would be a first-degree misdemeanor except when the forgery is used in a scheme to defraud, coerce, or commit theft, in which case it would be a third-degree felony. He also noted listed exceptions for constitutionally protected activity, law enforcement and certain developers or service providers.
Representatives pressed the bill’s scope. Representative Miller asked how a factfinder would determine whether a poster “knows or reasonably should know” a likeness is forged; Pennycook said law enforcement and platforms can often identify forgeries and that liability is aimed at the original poster who acted with malicious intent. Representative Kinkade asked whether the statute sufficiently protects the person whose image is used; Pennycook said he would work with members on amendments to strengthen victim protections. Representative Raab raised whether employees who create images at the direction of others would be liable; Pennycook said liability attaches to the person who commissions or directs a malicious deepfake and to the person who creates and posts it with intent.
The committee recorded a roll call and reported the bill to the floor, with the clerk announcing, “This bill passes a vote of 25 to 1.”
The committee record shows the measure will take effect in 60 days if enacted; counsel said the Senate approved the bill 50-0 before it came to this committee. The committee did not adopt amendments during the hearing.
