Law / United States / South Dakota
Computer-generated child pornography ban (SB 79, 2024)
SDCL §§ 22-24A-2(5), 22-24A-35 to 22-24A-37 (S.L. 2024, ch. 87)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not create, cause the creation of, knowingly permit the creation of, possess, sell, or distribute a visual depiction of a minor engaged in a prohibited sexual act, including a depiction of an individual indistinguishable from an actual minor created using artificial intelligence or other computer technology.
- Treat an AI system or product capable of generating a depiction of an identifiable minor, or of an individual made to appear as a minor, engaged in sexual conduct as carrying the same criminal exposure as an authentic photograph; there is no synthetic-content or AI-generated-output exemption.
- Manufacturing carries the highest exposure (Class 2 felony, mandatory minimum ten years), distributing the next highest (Class 3 felony, mandatory minimum five years), and possessing the lowest (Class 4 felony, mandatory minimum one year).
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Possessing computer-generated child pornography is a Class 4 felony (up to ten years and a $20,000 fine) with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year for a first offense and five years for a second or subsequent offense (SDCL § 22-24A-35). Distributing is a Class 3 felony (up to fifteen years and a $30,000 fine) with a mandatory minimum of five years, rising to ten years for a second or subsequent offense (§ 22-24A-36). Manufacturing is a Class 2 felony (up to twenty-five years and a $50,000 fine) with a mandatory minimum of ten years, rising to twenty years for a second or subsequent offense (§ 22-24A-37).
Penalty structure
Ceiling for manufacturing, the most severe of the three offenses (Class 2 felony); possessing and distributing carry lower caps and each offense also carries a mandatory minimum prison term, tabulated in criminal_exposure_note.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 50,000
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
SDCL § 22-24A-2(5) defines computer-generated child pornography to include a visual depiction of an actual minor altered to show a prohibited sexual act, an actual adult altered to appear as a minor engaged in a prohibited sexual act, or an individual indistinguishable from an actual minor created by the use of artificial intelligence or other computer technology capable of processing and interpreting specific data inputs to create a visual depiction.
Sections 22-24A-35 to 22-24A-37 were enacted by SB 79, signed by the Governor on February 12, 2024. Possessing computer-generated child pornography is a Class 4 felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year, on the same terms as possessing a depiction of an actual minor. Distributing it is a Class 3 felony with a mandatory minimum of five years.
Manufacturing it is a Class 2 felony with a mandatory minimum of ten years, and there is no exemption for synthetic or AI-generated output in any of the three offenses. SDCL § 22-24A-7's civil-damages provision, unamended since 2014, arms a plaintiff for conduct proscribed by "§§ 22-24A-1 to 22-24A-20", a range that does not by its own terms reach §§ 22-24A-35 to -37; no source located addresses whether a court would read the civil-damages chapter to reach the successor sections.
When LexLint raises it
generates_content
Read the law
official codified text, South Dakota Legislature (sdlegislature.gov)