Bill Text: TX SB441 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to criminal and civil liability related to sexually explicit media and artificial intimate visual material; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2025-06-20 - Effective on 9/1/25 [SB441 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB441-Enrolled.html

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S.B. No. 441

AN ACT
relating to criminal and civil liability related to sexually
explicit media and artificial intimate visual material; creating a
criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 21.165, Penal Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 21.165. UNLAWFUL PRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN
SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MEDIA [VIDEOS].
SECTION 2. Section 21.165(a), Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (3) to read as
follows:
(1) "Deep fake media [video]" means a visual depiction
[a video,] created or altered through [with] the use of software,
machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other
computer-generated or technological means, including by adapting,
modifying, manipulating, or altering an authentic visual depiction
manually or through an automated process [intent to deceive], that
appears to a reasonable person to depict a real person,
indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the real
person, performing an action that did not occur in reality.
(3) "Visual depiction" means a photograph, motion
picture film, videotape, digital image or video, or other visual
recording.
SECTION 3. Section 21.165, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), (c-4), (c-5), and (e) to read as
follows:
(b) A person commits an offense if, without the effective
consent of the person appearing to be depicted, the person
knowingly produces or distributes by electronic means [a] deep fake
media [video] that appears to depict the person:
(1) with visible computer-generated intimate parts or
with the visible intimate parts of another human being as the
intimate parts of the person; or
(2) engaging in sexual conduct in which the person did
not engage [with the person's intimate parts exposed or engaged in
sexual conduct].
(b-1) A person commits an offense if the person
intentionally threatens to produce or distribute deep fake media
with the intent to coerce, extort, harass, or intimidate another
person.
(b-2) Consent required by Subsection (b) is valid only if
the person appearing to be depicted knowingly and voluntarily
signed a written agreement that was drafted in plain language. The
agreement must include:
(1) a general description of the deep fake media; and
(2) if applicable, the audiovisual work into which the
deep fake media will be incorporated.
(c) An offense under Subsection (b) [this section] is a
Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of the
third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the actor has been previously convicted of an
offense under this section; or
(2) the person appearing to be depicted is younger
than 18 years of age.
(c-1) An offense under Subsection (b-1) is a Class B
misdemeanor, except that the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if it
is shown on the trial of the offense that:
(1) the actor has been previously convicted of an
offense under this section; or
(2) the actor threatened to produce or distribute deep
fake media appearing to depict a person younger than 18 years of
age.
(c-2) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section
that the deep fake media:
(1) contains a disclaimer stating that the media was
unauthorized or that the person appearing to be depicted did not
participate in the creation or development of the deep fake media;
or
(2) indicates, through a label or otherwise, that the
depiction is not authentic.
(c-3) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that the production or distribution of the deep fake media
occurs in the course of:
(1) lawful and common practices of law enforcement;
(2) reporting unlawful activity; or
(3) a legal proceeding, if the production or
distribution is permitted or required by law.
(c-4) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (b) that the actor:
(1) is an Internet service provider, cloud service
provider, cybersecurity service provider, communication service
provider, or telecommunications network that transmits data; and
(2) acted solely in a technical, automatic, or
intermediate nature.
(c-5) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
Subsection (b) that the actor:
(1) is a provider or developer of a publicly
accessible artificial intelligence application or software that
was used in the creation of the deep fake media;
(2) included a prohibition against the creation of
deep fake media prohibited by this section in the actor's terms and
conditions or user policies that are required to be acknowledged by
a user before the user is granted access to the artificial
intelligence application or software; and
(3) took affirmative steps to prevent the creation of
deep fake media prohibited by this section through technological
tools, such as:
(A) training the artificial intelligence
application or software to identify deep fake media prohibited by
this section;
(B) providing effective reporting tools for deep
fake media prohibited by this section;
(C) filtering deep fake media prohibited by this
section created by the artificial intelligence application or
software before the media is shown to a user; and
(D) filtering deep fake media prohibited by this
section from the artificial intelligence application or
software data set before the data set is used to train the
application or software.
(e) The court shall order a defendant convicted of an
offense under this section to make restitution to the victim of the
offense for any psychological, financial, or reputational harm
incurred by the victim as a result of the offense.
SECTION 4. The heading to Chapter 98B, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 98B. UNLAWFUL PRODUCTION, SOLICITATION, DISCLOSURE, OR
PROMOTION OF INTIMATE VISUAL MATERIAL
SECTION 5. Section 98B.001, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding
Subdivisions (1-a), (1-b), (3), and (4) to read as follows:
(1) "Artificial intimate visual material" means
computer-generated intimate visual material that was produced,
adapted, or modified using an artificial intelligence application
or other computer software in which the person is recognizable as an
actual person by a person's face, likeness, voice, or other
distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other
recognizable feature which, when viewed by a reasonable person, is
indistinguishable from the person depicted.
(1-a) "Consent" means affirmative, conscious, and
voluntary agreement, made by a person freely and without coercion,
fraud, or misrepresentation.
(1-b) "Intimate parts," "promote," "sexual conduct,"
and "visual material" have the meanings assigned by Section 21.16,
Penal Code.
(3) "Nudification application" means an artificial
intelligence application that is primarily designed and marketed
for the purpose of producing artificial intimate visual material.
(4) "Social media platform" has the meaning assigned
by Section 120.001, Business & Commerce Code.
SECTION 6. Chapter 98B, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
is amended by adding Sections 98B.0021, 98B.0022, 98B.008, and
98B.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 98B.0021. LIABILITY FOR UNLAWFUL PRODUCTION,
SOLICITATION, DISCLOSURE, OR PROMOTION OF CERTAIN ARTIFICIAL
INTIMATE VISUAL MATERIAL. A defendant is liable, as provided by
this chapter, to a person depicted in artificial intimate visual
material for damages arising from the production, solicitation,
disclosure, or promotion of the material if:
(1) the defendant produces, solicits, discloses, or
promotes the artificial intimate visual material without the
effective consent of the depicted person and with the intent to harm
that person;
(2) the production, solicitation, disclosure, or
promotion of the artificial intimate visual material causes harm to
the depicted person; and
(3) the production, solicitation, disclosure, or
promotion of the artificial intimate visual material reveals the
identity of the depicted person in any manner, including through
any accompanying or subsequent information or material related to
the artificial intimate visual material.
Sec. 98B.0022. LIABILITY OF OWNERS OF INTERNET WEBSITES AND
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLICATIONS AND PAYMENT PROCESSORS. (a)
A person who owns an Internet website or application, including a
social media platform, and who recklessly facilitates the
production or disclosure of artificial intimate visual material in
exchange for payment, who owns a publicly accessible nudification
application from which the material is produced, or who recklessly
processes or facilitates payment for the production or disclosure
of the material through the website or application, is liable, as
provided by this chapter, to a person depicted in the material for
damages arising from the production or disclosure of the material
if the person knows or recklessly disregards that the depicted
person did not consent to the production or disclosure of the
material.
(b) A person who owns an Internet website or application,
including a social media platform, on which artificial intimate
visual material is disclosed is liable, as provided by this
chapter, to the person depicted in the material for damages arising
from the disclosure of the material if the person depicted requests
the website or application to remove the material and the person who
owns the website or application fails to remove the material within
72 hours of receiving the request and make reasonable efforts to
identify and remove any known identical copies of such material.
(c) A person who owns an Internet website or application,
including a social media platform, shall make available on the
website or application an easily accessible system that allows a
person to submit a request for the removal of artificial intimate
visual material.
(d) A person who owns an Internet website or application,
including a social media platform, shall make available on the
website or application a clear and conspicuous notice, which may be
provided through a clear and conspicuous link to another web page or
disclosure, of the removal process established under Subsection
(c), that:
(1) is written in plain language that is easy to read;
and
(2) provides information regarding the
responsibilities of the person who owns the website or application
under this section, including a description of how a person can
submit a request for the removal of artificial intimate visual
material and how to track the status of the request.
(e) A violation of Subsection (b), (c), or (d) is a
deceptive trade practice actionable under Subchapter E, Chapter 17,
Business & Commerce Code.
(f) The attorney general may investigate and bring an action
for injunctive relief against a person who repeatedly violates
Subsection (b), (c), or (d). If the attorney general prevails in
the action, the attorney general may recover costs and attorney's
fees.
Sec. 98B.008. CONFIDENTIAL IDENTITY IN CERTAIN
ACTIONS. (a) In this section, "confidential identity" means:
(1) the use of a pseudonym; and
(2) the absence of any other identifying information,
including address, telephone number, and social security number.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this section, in a suit
brought under this chapter, the court shall:
(1) make it known to the claimant as early as possible
in the proceedings of the suit that the claimant may use a
confidential identity in relation to the suit;
(2) allow a claimant to use a confidential identity in
all petitions, filings, and other documents presented to the court;
(3) use the confidential identity in all of the court's
proceedings and records relating to the suit, including any
appellate proceedings; and
(4) maintain the records relating to the suit in a
manner that protects the confidentiality of the claimant.
(c) In a suit brought under this chapter, only the following
persons are entitled to know the true identifying information about
the claimant:
(1) the judge;
(2) a party to the suit;
(3) the attorney representing a party to the suit; and
(4) a person authorized by a written order of a court
specific to that person.
(d) The court shall order that a person entitled to know the
true identifying information under Subsection (c) may not divulge
that information to anyone without a written order of the court. A
court shall hold a person who violates the order in contempt.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 22.004, Government Code, the
supreme court may not amend or adopt rules in conflict with this
section.
(f) A claimant is not required to use a confidential
identity as provided by this section.
Sec. 98B.009. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. A person must bring
suit under this chapter not later than 10 years after the later of
the date on which:
(1) the person depicted in the intimate visual
material that is the basis for the suit reasonably discovers the
intimate visual material; or
(2) the person depicted in the intimate visual
material that is the basis for the suit turns 18 years of age.
SECTION 7. Chapter 98B, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
as amended by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that
accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 8. Section 21.165, Penal Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
occurred before that date.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 441 passed the Senate on
March 18, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0;
May 28, 2025, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 30, 2025, House
granted request of the Senate; May 31, 2025, Senate adopted
Conference Committee Report by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 441 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 27, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 104,
Nays 36, one present not voting; May 30, 2025, House granted
request of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
May 31, 2025, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
following vote: Yeas 90, Nays 33, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor