Deepfake Content - A Growing Issue meets Michigan’s Statutory Response
As AI technology becomes more accessible, the legal risks surrounding its misuse are growing just as quickly.
By now, we have become more use to the ways AI has inundated our daily lives. AI has seemingly infiltrated most aspects of life, whether its at our places of work, our homes, and of course, social media. These developments have created a new and rapidly growing issue: Deepfakes.
A “deepfake” is audio, video, or image content generated or altered using artificial intelligence to realistically depict a person doing or saying something they never actually did. For example, a deepfake can be a fake video of an individual engaging in a sexual situation, or altering explicit images with an individual’s face or even audio mimicking someone’s voice.
To address the rise in deepfake content spreading across social media and other mediums of publication, the State of Michigan enacted Public Act 11 of 2025, better known as the Protection from Intimate Deep Fakes Act to add new crimes for creation or dissemination of nonconsenual deepfake content depicting an identifiable individual in a sexual situation. It is important to understand that dissemination is broadly defined, and you do not need to go viral to face prosecution for such deepfake content. Sharing deepfake content with even one person, or just a few followers, can result in a criminal charge.
Michigan’s recently enacted law provides for both misdemeanor and felony exposure for creating or disseminating deepfake content. Under MCL 752.388, it is a misdemeanor when an individual knew or reasonably should have known that the creation or dissemination of the deepfake content would cause physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm to an individual falsely depicted. Penalties imposed can result in a misdemeanor conviction and further provide for up to 1-year jail, fines up to $3,000, or both. These charges can rise to a felony where, for example, the depicted individual suffers financial loss, the deepfake content was created for profit from the dissemination, or where its created with the intent to harass, extort, or threaten the depicted individual. A felony conviction can result in up to 3-years incarceration, fines up to $5,000, or both, all while a depicted individual’s civil rights to recover damages are preserved.
At the Law Offices of Robert Goldman, PLLC, we not only stay prepared with the changing laws, but technology as well. If you are facing allegations involving digital content, or if you believe you are the victim of a deepfake, understanding of new law and proactive intervention is critical.
