Regulation Tracker
The world is writing deepfake law in real time
Governments everywhere are racing to regulate deepfakes, synthetic media, and AI-powered fraud. Here's where the law stands — and where it's heading.
How are governments regulating deepfakes?
Mandatory labeling & watermarking
The dominant model. The EU AI Act (Art. 50), China's Sept 2025 labeling measures, South Korea's AI Basic Act, and India's synthetic-content rules all converge on visible labels plus embedded, machine-readable provenance — pushing duties upstream to model and tool providers.
Criminalizing non-consensual intimate deepfakes
The fastest-moving front, and the frontier is shifting from distribution to creation and even possession — the US TAKE IT DOWN and DEFIANCE Acts, the UK's new creation offense, South Korea's expanded sex-crime law, and Australia's federal and state offenses.
Election-integrity rules
Targeted bans and disclosure for deceptive political deepfakes near elections — California, Texas, and Singapore's ELIONA — though several US measures face First Amendment challenges.
Platform liability & rapid takedown
Laws increasingly put obligations on intermediaries: 48-hour NCII removal in the US, removal directions with seven-figure fines in Singapore, and user-declaration and detection duties in India and California.
Likeness as a right + provenance
Denmark's copyright-of-likeness approach and US digital-replica laws treat a person's face and voice as ownable, while provenance standards like C2PA become the technical backbone regulators reference — driving demand for detection, liveness, and authentication.
Timeline
Every law on this page, most recent first. Each line jumps to its entry below.
Timeline · 20 laws
- · United KingdomData (Use and Access) Act 2025, s.138 In force
- · IndiaIT Rules — Synthetically Generated Information In force
- · United StatesDEFIANCE Act Proposed
- · South KoreaAI Basic Act In force
- · ChinaAI-Generated Content Labeling Measures (GB 45438-2025) In force
- · European UnionDenmark — Copyright Act (digital likeness) Proposed
- · United StatesTAKE IT DOWN Act In force
- · JapanAI Promotion Act + AI guidelines In force
- · SpainDraft AI labeling law Proposed
- · CanadaBill C-63 (Online Harms Act) Lapsed
- · SingaporeElections (Integrity of Online Advertising) Act — ELIONA In force
- · United StatesCalifornia & Texas (state) In force
- · South KoreaSex-crime law (deepfake amendments) In force
- · European UnionEU AI Act (Reg. 2024/1689), Article 50 In force
- · AustraliaCriminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Act 2024 In force
- · FranceLoi SREN (2024) In force
- · BrazilSuperior Electoral Court resolution + AI Bill (PL 2338) In force
- · United KingdomOnline Safety Act 2023 In force
- · TaiwanCriminal Code & sexual-privacy amendments In force
- · ChinaDeep Synthesis Provisions In force
- · United KingdomData (Use and Access) Act 2025, s.138 In force
- · IndiaIT Rules — Synthetically Generated Information In force
- · United StatesDEFIANCE Act Proposed
- · South KoreaAI Basic Act In force
- · ChinaAI-Generated Content Labeling Measures (GB 45438-2025) In force
- · European UnionDenmark — Copyright Act (digital likeness) Proposed
- · United StatesTAKE IT DOWN Act In force
- · JapanAI Promotion Act + AI guidelines In force
- · SpainDraft AI labeling law Proposed
- · CanadaBill C-63 (Online Harms Act) Lapsed
- · SingaporeElections (Integrity of Online Advertising) Act — ELIONA In force
- · United StatesCalifornia & Texas (state) In force
- · South KoreaSex-crime law (deepfake amendments) In force
- · European UnionEU AI Act (Reg. 2024/1689), Article 50 In force
- · AustraliaCriminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Act 2024 In force
- · FranceLoi SREN (2024) In force
- · BrazilSuperior Electoral Court resolution + AI Bill (PL 2338) In force
- · United KingdomOnline Safety Act 2023 In force
- · TaiwanCriminal Code & sexual-privacy amendments In force
- · ChinaDeep Synthesis Provisions In force
By region
European Union
EU AI Act (Reg. 2024/1689), Article 50
In forceEnacted 2024 · transparency rules from Aug 2026
Providers must machine-mark AI-generated content; deployers must visibly label deepfakes and AI text on matters of public interest. Penalties up to €15M or 3% of global turnover.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · EUR-Lex
Denmark — Copyright Act (digital likeness)
Proposed2025
A first-of-its-kind right over your own face, voice, and body, enabling takedowns, compensation, and platform liability for unauthorized deepfakes.
United States
TAKE IT DOWN Act
In forceSigned May 2025 · platform duties from May 2026
Federal crime to publish non-consensual intimate imagery, real or AI. Platforms must remove reported NCII within 48 hours.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · GovInfo
DEFIANCE Act
ProposedPassed Senate 2026
A federal civil cause of action for victims of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes to sue creators and distributors.
California & Texas (state)
In force2024-2026
California's 2024 package targets election deepfakes and digital replicas; Texas's TRAIGA (effective Jan 2026) bans unlawful deepfakes with AG-enforced penalties.
France
Loi SREN (2024)
In forceEnacted 2024
Criminalizes sharing non-consensual sexual deepfakes and requires that AI-generated content be labeled as such; complements EU AI Act obligations.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Légifrance
Spain
Draft AI labeling law
Proposed2025
Would mandate clear labeling of AI-generated content, with fines up to €35M or 7% of turnover, aligning national enforcement with the AI Act.
United Kingdom
Online Safety Act 2023
In forceEnacted 2023
Made it a criminal offense to share or threaten to share intimate images, explicitly including deepfakes.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · legislation.gov.uk
Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, s.138
In forceCreation offense from Feb 2026
Criminalizes creating — and requesting others to create — non-consensual intimate deepfakes, moving beyond distribution.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · legislation.gov.uk
China
Deep Synthesis Provisions
In forceJan 2023
Requires conspicuous labeling of synthetically generated or altered media and prohibits deceptive deep-synthesis content.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Cyberspace Administration of China
AI-Generated Content Labeling Measures (GB 45438-2025)
In forceSept 2025
Mandates both visible labels and hidden metadata/watermarks on all AI-generated media distributed on Chinese platforms.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Cyberspace Administration of China
South Korea
AI Basic Act
In forceJan 2026
A comprehensive national AI framework requiring watermarking/labeling of generative-AI output, plus transparency duties.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Korea Law Information Center
Sex-crime law (deepfake amendments)
In forceRevised 2024
Criminalizes producing, distributing, possessing, or even viewing sexually explicit deepfakes without consent.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Korea Law Information Center
Japan
AI Promotion Act + AI guidelines
In force2024-2025
A light-touch, principles-based approach: no dedicated deepfake statute yet, relying on AI business guidelines plus existing defamation, copyright, and portrait-rights law.
Taiwan
Criminal Code & sexual-privacy amendments
In forceEnacted 2023
Criminalizes creating and distributing non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes, following high-profile deepfake abuse cases.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Taiwan Ministry of Justice
Brazil
Superior Electoral Court resolution + AI Bill (PL 2338)
In force2024 (elections) · AI bill pending
Bans deepfakes in election campaigns and requires AI-content disclosure; a broader AI framework (PL 2338/2023) is advancing through Congress.
India
IT Rules — Synthetically Generated Information
In forceDraft Oct 2025 · final rules from Feb 2026
AI-generated audio and visual content must carry a prominent label and embedded provenance metadata, and platforms must remove flagged unlawful content within three hours. The final rules dropped the draft's 10%-of-screen label size.
Australia
Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Act 2024
In forceEnacted 2024
Federal offense for non-consensual sharing and creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, reinforced by state laws in NSW and SA.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Federal Register of Legislation
Singapore
Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) Act — ELIONA
In forcePassed Oct 2024
Bans AI-generated content that falsely depicts election candidates during the election period; platforms face fines up to S$1M.
Official text (opens in a new tab) · Singapore Statutes Online
Canada
Bill C-63 (Online Harms Act)
Lapsed2025
Would have addressed deepfake and NCII harms but died when Parliament dissolved; Canada currently lacks a dedicated federal deepfake statute.
Informational only, not legal advice. Laws change quickly and details vary by jurisdiction — verify with qualified counsel before relying on any point here.