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Law / United States / Wisconsin

2025 Wisconsin Act 34, Synthetic Intimate Representation Ban

Wis. Stat. § 942.09(1)(e), (2)(am)4., (2)(dr)

In force since .

An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.

Obligation class
Prohibition
Audit expectation
none
Setting the rule reaches
General

What it requires

  • Do not post, publish, distribute, or exhibit a synthetic intimate representation, meaning a realistic AI-generated or technologically-generated depiction using an identifiable person's face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic to portray an intimate scene involving that person, with intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate them.
  • This prohibition reaches a depiction built from artificial, licensed, or generally accessible components alike; a synthetic image is not exempted merely because part of it is drawn from real or licensed material.
  • The offense is a Class I felony, rising to a Class H felony if the depicted person had not turned 18 at the time of the violation.

These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.

In the frameworks

NIST AI RMF
  • MAP 3.3Targeted application scope is specified and documented based on the system’s capability, established context, and AI system categorization.
NIST AI 600-1
MIT mitigations Draft
  • 1.5Safety Decision Frameworks
  • 3.3Access Management
NIST Privacy Framework
  • CT.PO-P1Policies, processes, and procedures for authorizing data processing (e.g., organizational decisions, individual consent), revoking authorizations, and maintaining authorizations are established and in place.
FINOS AIGF
ETSI EN 304 223
  • 5.1.2-1Business need and security risks written down and assessed before deciding to build an AI system.
  • 5.1.4-5End-users told which uses of the system are prohibited.

Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law

Identifiers refer to ETSI EN 304 223 V2.1.1 (2025-12), © ETSI 2025, all rights reserved. ETSI owns the standard; no ETSI text (titles or sentences) is reproduced here. The standard is free to download from ETSI.

If you get it wrong

Criminal exposureYes

Criminal exposure note

Except as provided for a minor victim, a violation of Wis. Stat. § 942.09(2)(am), including the synthetic-intimate-representation offense at (2)(am)4, is a Class I felony (fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 3 years and 6 months, or both, under Wis. Stat. § 939.50(3)(i)). Under (2)(dr), the offense is instead a Class H felony (fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 6 years, or both, under § 939.50(3)(h)) if the person depicted had not attained the age of 18 at the time of the violation.

Penalty structure

Both the Class I felony tier (adult victim) and the enhanced Class H felony tier (minor victim) cap the fine at $10,000; only the maximum imprisonment differs, 3 years and 6 months for a Class I felony versus 6 years for a Class H felony, under Wis. Stat. § 939.50(3)(h) and (i).

Rule
Fixed only
As of
Currency
USD
Fixed cap
10,000

What it makes you log

Logging duty

Section 942.09(1)(e) and (2)(am)4 criminalize posting, publishing, distributing, or exhibiting a synthetic intimate representation of an identifiable person. It imposes no duty to create, keep, or produce a log or record of any kind.

Kind
None
As of

What this law does

Drafted with AI

Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page. How this site is made

Research summary

Legal information, not legal advice. This is LexLint's own research summary of a public legal source, and it creates no attorney-client relationship. For decisions that matter, consult qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. About LexLint

A "synthetic intimate representation" is defined as a representation generated using technological means that uses an identifiable person's face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic to depict an intimate representation of that person, regardless of whether the representation includes components that are artificial, legally generated, or generally accessible, and that is so realistic that a reasonable person would believe it depicts conduct of the identifiable person; the definition is technology-neutral and reaches an AI-generated or partly AI-generated sexual deepfake.

Posting, publishing, distributing, or exhibiting a synthetic intimate representation of an identifiable person with intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate that person is a Class I felony, except that it is a Class H felony if the depicted person had not attained the age of 18 at the time of the violation.

The same act separately created a reproduction offense at subsection (3m)(a)3, making it a Class A misdemeanor (Class I felony if the depicted person was a minor) to make a reproduction of a private representation knowing the depicted person did not consent to the reproduction; that provision is not limited to synthetic or AI-generated content on its own terms.

Created by 2025 Wisconsin Act 34 (2025 Senate Bill 33), enacted and published ; the act does not carry a distinct effective-date clause of its own, so it took effect the day after publication, , under the state's general rule for acts of the legislature enacted without an emergency clause.

When LexLint raises it

When your app profile says your app generates images with AI, generates video with AI or publishes adult content.

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