"As a county prosecutor, I went after people who used their power to prey on others," Governor Whitmer said in a press release. "Now, as governor, I'm proud to sign these bipartisan bills into law, so we can protect Michiganders from this rising form of sexual exploitation. I'll keep working with anyone to protect Michiganders from blackmail or retribution, because no one should have to live in fear. Together, let's get it done."
Recently passed by the Senate, House Bills 4047 and 4048, sponsored by state Reps. Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar) and Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing), protect Michiganders from sexual harassment or exploitation and assault by prohibiting deep fakes that include harmful sexual content featuring a specific individual.
"With the governor's signature, Michigan is making it clear that non-consensual intimate deepfakes have no place in our state. This law protects the dignity and privacy of every citizen and gives victims the tools they need to seek justice," State Representative Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar) said in the press release. "Technology should be used to improve lives, not to exploit them — and today we've taken an important step to ensure that."
She also signed a bipartisan bill honoring Deputy Sheriff William Butler, Jr., who lost his life in the line of duty in 2024. Senate Bill 70, sponsored by state Senator Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe), designates a portion of M-34 in Hillsdale County as the "Deputy Sheriff William Butler, Jr. Memorial Highway." This change honors Deputy Sheriff William Butler, Jr., a member of the Hillsdale Sheriff's Department, who lost his life in the line of duty after being shot during a traffic stop.
What the bills do
A deep fake is a realistic but fabricated image, video or audio created using technology — so convincing that a reasonable person would think it's real.
"Generally, a deep fake is a believably realistic but fake video, image, or audio clip created by artificial intelligence (AI) or digital manipulation tools. As AI and digital manipulation tools become increasingly accessible, some are worried that deep fakes will be created more often," the Senate summary brief stated.
Civil provisions allow the depicted individual to sue if the creator or distributor knew or should have known it would cause harm — physical, emotional, reputational or economic — or acted with intent to harass, extort, threaten or harm, or if the deep fake depicts intimate parts or sexual acts or the depicted person is identifiable.
"According to testimony, deep fakes can cause significant emotional and financial harm to depicted individuals who have not consented to the creation of the deep fake's content, such as in the creation of deepfake pornography," the Senate brief said. "It has been suggested that the creation of deep fakes featuring sexual content that could cause harm to a depicted individual be prohibited."
Criminally, the offender can be charged for creating or disseminating sexual deep fakes under the same harmful intent and depiction criteria as civil cases. That person can then be charged with a misdemeanor, including up to one year in jail and/or a $3,000 fine.
Charges can be upgraded to a felony if certain aggravating factors apply, like financial loss to the victim, intent to profit, prior conviction, posting on a website, harassment, or running a site/app for such content and can be punishable by up to three years in prison and/or $5,000 fine.
The bill notes that it is not a defense that the depicted person consented, unless consent is in a written agreement signed knowingly and voluntarily. The agreement must clearly describe the intimate depiction.
Deepfakes use AI to create fake media, including videos, pictures, or audio recordings, depicting events that never occurred. They have increasingly been used to create fake videos of real individuals in sexual situations. These videos can ruin someone's reputation, career, and personal life. As such, these bills prohibit the creation of deep fakes that depict individuals in sexual situations and create sentencing guidelines for the crime. These bills will keep Michiganders safer by protecting them from a rising form of harassment and exploitation.
© 2025 the Midland Daily News (Midland, Mich.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
