Law / United States / 
South Dakota
Election Deepfake Disclosure Law (SB 164, 2025)
SDCL §§ 12-26-32 to 12-26-37 (S.L. 2025, ch. 68)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force.
An AI sector rules rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not disseminate, or contract to disseminate, a deepfake, an AI-manipulated or -generated image, audio recording, or video recording depicting a real individual's speech or conduct that did not occur, within 90 days of a South Dakota election, with intent to injure a candidate, unless the item carries the disclosure required by SDCL § 12-26-37.
- If disseminating such content, superimpose (for an image or video) or speak at the beginning and end (for audio) a disclosure reading that the item has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence, sized or spoken to be easily seen or heard by an average viewer or listener.
- This prohibition does not reach satire or parody, a bona fide news broadcast that acknowledges questions about the item's authenticity, a paid periodical or website of general circulation carrying news and commentary, or an internet, hosting, or connectivity provider acting in a merely technical or automatic capacity.
- Expect civil exposure to the candidate and the depicted individual, in addition to a Class 1 misdemeanor charge, for a violation.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
A violation of SDCL § 12-26-33 is a Class 1 misdemeanor (up to one year in a county jail or a $2,000 fine, or both, under SDCL § 22-6-2).
Penalty structure
Ceiling for the Class 1 misdemeanor criminal charge; separate civil liability under SDCL § 12-26-36 (damages, costs, and attorney fees) is not itself capped.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 2,000
What it reaches
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Place of effect
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Sections 12-26-33 through 12-26-37 create the dissemination prohibition, the disclosure format, the exemptions, and the injunctive and civil remedies. None of them requires a log, record, or documentation of the disclosure or of who received it.
- Kind
- None
- As of
- 21 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.
SB 164 was signed by the Governor on March 25, 2025.
This law prohibits any person, with intent to injure a candidate, from disseminating a deepfake (an image, audio recording, or video recording created or manipulated with artificial intelligence or other digital technology that a reasonable person would believe depicts the real speech or conduct of someone who did not engage in it) within 90 days of an election, unless the item carries the disclosure described in SDCL § 12-26-37; a violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The required disclosure must be sized and placed as the statute specifies for each media type. The prohibition exempts satire or parody, a bona fide news broadcast that acknowledges questions about the item's authenticity, a paid periodical or website of general circulation carrying news and commentary, and an internet, hosting, or connectivity provider acting in a merely technical or automatic capacity.
The Attorney General, an injured or likely-to-be-injured candidate, or the individual depicted may seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohibiting the dissemination. A violator is also civilly liable to the candidate and the depicted individual for damages, costs, and attorney fees, proven by clear and convincing evidence.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
official codified text, South Dakota Legislature (sdlegislature.gov)
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.