United States of America: Introduced Bill on Aggravated Harassment and Deep Fakes (AB 4217)

On 3 January 2024, the Bill on Aggravated Harassment and Deep Fakes (AB 4217) was reintroduced to the Assembly of the State of New York. The Bill proposes to amend the penal law and establish the crime of aggravated harassment by means of electronic or digital communication and provides for a private right of action for the unlawful dissemination or publication of deep fakes. The Bill defines “deep fake” as a digitised image altered to incorporate a person's face or identifiable body part onto such image, published without the explicit written permission of the individual depicted, and for no other legitimate purpose other than to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person. The Bill also amends the civil rights law to include deep fakes in the private right of action for unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image.