Bills banning deepfake pornography return to the Michigan Senate floor

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By Kyle Davidson,
Michigan Advance

By Kyle Davidson,
Michigan Advance

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House Bills 4047 and 4048 would allow individuals to take civil action over the non-consensual creation of deepfake pornography.

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance.

Members of the Michigan Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee took the next step in an effort to ban non-consensual “deep fake” pornography, approving tweaks to the policy and voting to return the policies to the Senate floor on Tuesday morning. 

If approved by both chambers, House Bills 4047 and 4048 would place criminal penalties on the creation and distribution of deep fakes depicting individuals in an intimate or sexual context, and would allow individuals to take civil action over the non-consensual creation of deepfake pornography. 

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The six members of the committee in attendance voted unanimously to approve substitutes for the bills and to send the legislation back to the Senate floor for a vote.

Following the meeting, Committee Chair Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) told reporters the substitutes for the bill were intended to further clarify that companies whose technology is used to create deepfakes are not held liable and that the bills’ sponsors, Reps. Matt Bierlein (R-Vassar) and Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing), had given the substitutes their blessing.

While a previous effort to ban non-consensual deepfake porn was left on the table during lame duck session in 2024, Chang said the policy was fairly bipartisan and that she hoped the Legislature could bring the bills across the finish line.

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Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

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