Are deepfakes illegalSome are, depending on what the fake shows, who it targets and where you are

What US and EU law say

United States. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed on 19 May 2025, makes it unlawful to use an interactive computer service to knowingly publish a “digital forgery” of an identifiable person. A digital forgery is an intimate image made or altered with software or AI that a reasonable person could not tell from a real one. The offence has conditions, including that it was published without the person’s consent and that it is intended to cause harm or does cause harm (Public Law 119-12). The law is about intimate imagery. It is not a general ban on every kind of fake. Many states have their own rules, so check yours.

European Union. Under Article 50 of the AI Act, anyone using an AI system to create or alter image, audio or video content that is a deepfake must disclose that it is artificially generated or manipulated. For clearly artistic, creative, satirical or fictional work the duty is limited to disclosing it in a way that does not spoil the work (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). The Commission’s timeline lists new prohibitions on AI systems generating non-consensual sexual deepfakes and child sexual abuse material from 2 December 2026 (AI Act Service Desk).

Other laws may also apply, such as harassment, fraud, defamation, publicity rights and copyright. We did not survey those here.