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Bill Summary · HB 63

Bill Overview

HB 63 (2026 Regular Session, Kentucky) adds privacy protections specifically addressing deep fakes. The bill creates new prohibitions, defenses, and penalties related to the creation and dissemination of deep fake content, with separate provisions embedded in three Kentucky code chapters (411, 413, and 519).

Purpose and Intent

  • Establish clear legal standards to prevent the malicious use of deep fakes.
  • Provide remedies (injunctive relief, damages, and attorney’s fees) for individuals depicted in deep fakes when dissemination is unlawful.
  • Create criminal liability for certain willful disclosures or distributions of deep fakes that harm or threaten others or affect public processes.

Key Provisions

Section 1: New Section of KRS Chapter 411 (Civil Protections)

  • Definitions:
    • Consent: consent to transmission to a specific recipient(s).
    • Deep fake: a highly realistic manipulation (video, audio, image) that depicts speech or conduct not engaged in by the depicted individual; substantially dependent on technical manipulation; lacks clear labeling or disclaimers.
    • Depicted individual: person identifiable by face, likeness, voice, etc., in the deep fake.
    • Information content provider and interactive computer service: standard tech definitions.
  • Prohibition:
    • It is unlawful for a natural person to willfully and knowingly disseminate a deep fake of a depicted individual without express, written consent.
  • Remedies and liability:
    • Victims may seek injunctive relief, actual and punitive damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
  • Jurisdiction and scope:
    • Civil action may be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction.
  • Consent caveat:
    • Consent to create a deep fake does not automatically grant consent to distribute it.
  • Exceptions (non-liability factors):
    • Disclosures tied to criminal investigations or lawful reporting of unlawful conduct.
    • Medical or mental health treatment contexts with protected material.
    • Commercial settings for sale of goods/services, with knowledge of creation/dissemination.
    • Matters of public interest for lawful public purposes.
    • Legitimate scientific, educational, or research purposes.
    • Legal proceedings (consistent with civil practice or court order).
    • Parody, satire, or entertainment with explicit disclosures:
    • Visual media: clear, conspicuous disclosure in a prominent location.
    • Audio-only: clearly spoken disclosure at the beginning and end, if no visual disclosure is feasible.
  • Safe harbors for platforms:
    • Providers/users of interactive services are not treated as publishers/speakers of third-party content.
    • Section does not radically alter 47 U.S.C. § 230 protections or service provider immunities.
  • Media carve-outs:
    • News broadcasters, paid broadcasts, or regularly published newspapers/magazines that publish deep fakes may do so if clearly stating the material does not accurately represent the subject.

Section 2: Civil Statute of Limitations (KRS Chapter 413)

  • Civil actions under Section 1 must be commenced within three (3) years after accrual of the cause of action.

Section 3: New Section of KRS Chapter 519 (Criminal Provisions)

  • Definitions mirror Section 1 (deep fake and depicted individual).
  • Criminal offense:
    • Disseminating a deep fake with intent to harass, threaten, alarm, or cause substantial financial or reputational harm; with actual knowledge or reckless disregard for harm; or when creation/dissemination could reasonably affect administrative, legislative, judicial proceedings, or elections.
  • Penalty:
    • Class D felony for disseminating a deep fake.
  • Defensive provision:
    • Same exemptions listed in Section 1 apply to criminal liability (i.e., no criminal liability if exemptions apply).

Who Is Affected

  • Individuals depicted in deep fakes (protected against non-consensual dissemination).
  • Natural persons who create, share, or disseminate deep fakes.
  • Information content providers and interactive computer service providers (limited liability as outlined).
  • Media organizations and publishers that may disseminate deep fakes under clearly disclosed parody or news contexts.
  • Victims seeking civil or criminal relief for unlawful dissemination.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Civil actions under Section 1: actionable when a deep fake is disseminated without consent; three-year limitations period (Section 2).
  • Criminal enforcement: disseminating a deep fake in specified harmful contexts constitutes a Class D felony (Section 3).
  • Effective operation of exemptions requires explicit disclosures or compliance with defined contexts (e.g., satire with disclosure, educational/research purposes).

Summary

HB 63 creates a dual-track approach to deep fakes in Kentucky: civil remedies for non-consensual dissemination and criminal penalties for harmful dissemination, with robust exemptions for journalism, parody, research, and certain professional contexts. It emphasizes explicit consent, clear labeling, and careful balancing of free speech with protection against harassment, reputational harm, and interference with public processes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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