Law / United States / Tennessee
Preventing Deepfake Images Act
Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-17-1901 to 39-17-1906 (Pub. Ch. 466, 2025)
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 since 1 July 2025.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not intentionally disclose, or threaten to disclose, an intimate digital depiction, including one that is AI-generated or AI-manipulated, of an identifiable person without that person's consent.
- Consent to the creation of an intimate digital depiction does not establish consent to its disclosure; valid consent to disclosure must be a signed, plain-language agreement describing the depiction and any work it will be incorporated into.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
A violation is a Class E felony, or a Class C felony where the creation, reproduction, or distribution of the intimate digital depiction could reasonably be expected to affect a governmental, legislative, or judicial proceeding, including an election, or to facilitate violence.
Statutory damages
In a civil action an individual may recover the defendant's monetary gain from the depiction, plus either actual damages (including emotional distress) or liquidated damages of $150,000, plus punitive damages under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-104 and attorney's fees and costs.
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 150,000
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Creates a new part of the criminal code defining an intimate digital depiction as one appearing to show nudity or sexual content and created or altered through digital manipulation, and a deepfake as a video, image, or audio file generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence to realistically portray something that did not occur.
A person who intentionally discloses, or threatens to disclose, an intimate digital depiction of an identifiable individual without consent, knowing or recklessly disregarding that consent was absent, is liable to a civil action and, where the disclosure is intended to harass or cause harm, commits a Class E felony, rising to a Class C felony where the disclosure could reasonably be expected to affect a governmental proceeding, including an election, or facilitate violence.
A provider of an interactive computer service is not liable for content supplied by another person or for good-faith restriction of access to such depictions.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
official signed act text, Public Chapter 466 (2025), Tennessee Secretary of State