BeninDigital Code of the Republic of Benin, Livre VI, Article 576 (Unauthorised Image or Voice Montage / Synthetic-Media Prohibition)
Loi n°2017-20 du 20 avril 2018 Livre VI, Article 576 (Atteinte à la représentation de la personne), portant Code du Numérique en République du Bénin
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since 20 April 2018.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 4 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not publish on the internet a montage made with a person's words or image without their consent, unless it is evident that it is a montage or this is expressly stated.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Art. 576 punishes publishing on the internet, by any means, a montage made with a person's words or image without their consent, unless it is evident that it is a montage or this is expressly stated, by five years' imprisonment and a fine of 25,000,000 CFA francs.
Penalty structure
Art. 576 states a single combination (five years' imprisonment and a fine of 25,000,000 CFA francs) rather than a range; no lesser or aggravated tier is stated for this offense.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 4 September 2026
- Currency
- XOF
- Fixed cap
- 25,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Beninese public prosecution and the criminal courts, with the Centre National d'Investigations Numériques (CNIN) as the investigative body that has publicly invoked this provision
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Article 576 punishes publishing an unauthorised image or voice montage on the internet and states no duty to create, keep, or produce a log or record of anything; its only textual carve-out is that the montage be evident as such or expressly labelled, which is a disclosure defence rather than a documentation duty.
- Kind
- None
- As of
- 22 September 2026
Who checks it
Audit expectation
none
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 576 of the Digital Code, within Livre VI's cybercriminality title, punishes publishing on the internet, by any means, a montage made with a person's words or image without their consent, by five years' imprisonment and a fine of 25,000,000 CFA francs, cumulatively rather than as alternative penalties.
The prohibition does not reach a montage where it is evident that it is a montage, or where this is expressly stated, which functions as a safe harbor tied to disclosure rather than an affirmative duty to label synthetic content. The provision is not limited to AI-generated media by its own terms: a manually edited composite of a person's words or image falls within it just as a synthetic one does.
When LexLint raises it
generates_content
Read the law
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.