Law / United States / 
Tennessee
Preventing Deepfake Images Act
Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-17-1901 to 39-17-1906 (Pub. Ch. 466, 2025)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
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 it makes you log
Who may demand the log
Court
What the log must hold
Consent or opt-out state, Affected person reference, Disclosure shown
Logging duty
Section 39-17-1903(c) states that consent to disclose an intimate digital depiction is valid only if set out in a plain-language agreement, signed knowingly and voluntarily by the depicted individual, describing the depiction and the work it will be incorporated into. It never uses the words logs, records or audit trail, but a person relying on consent as a defense to the civil action in Sec. 39-17-1903(a) cannot demonstrate valid consent without producing that signed agreement, so the duty is implicit. Section 39-17-1906's criminal offense has no consent element or defense of its own; the consent-validity test in subsection (c) applies, by its own words, only to an action under Section 39-17-1903.
- Kind
- Implicit
- As of
- 21 September 2026
- Provision
- Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 39-17-1903(c)
- Trigger
- consent_or_optout
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.
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
generates_content
Read the law
official signed act text, Public Chapter 466 (2025), Tennessee Secretary of State
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.