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Virginia Nonconsensual Pornography (Deepfake Coverage)

VAIn EffectMedium riskFor all AI companies
Effective
StatusIn Effect
Penalties (summary)Class 1 misdemeanor: up to 12 months jail, $2,500 fine. Enhanced penalties for repeat offenses. Felony under child ex…
Private right of actionYes

In effect since July 1, 2014.

Overview

Virginia's nonconsensual pornography statute criminalizes dissemination of intimate images created by any means whatsoever, which courts interpret to include AI-generated deepfakes. Enhanced penalties for repeat offenses and content involving minors.

This is an AI-specific state law.

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Virginia AI regulation guide lists every tracked rule for this jurisdiction with timelines and obligation tallies.

Who this applies to

This regulation applies to both companies that build AI products and companies that use AI tools from other vendors.

AI categories covered

  • Consumer-facing AI

Specific AI use cases:

  • Content generation
  • synthetic media manipulation
  • voice likeness synthesis
  • political synthetic media

What this requires you to do

  • Prohibited practices

    Prohibited practices. Review this obligation in the source text.

Enforcement and penalties

Class 1 misdemeanor: up to 12 months jail, $2,500 fine. Enhanced penalties for repeat offenses. Felony under child exploitation statutes (up to 20 years). Civil remedies available to victims.

Private Right of Action

This rule allows private plaintiffs to bring claims directly, in addition to government enforcement.

Legislative history

How this law got here

  1. Latest

    amended

    Computer-generated images of minors explicitly included in child exploitation statutes

  2. amended

    HB 2678 expanded scope and penalties

  3. signed

    Original nonconsensual pornography statute enacted

    Earliest

Cross-referenced regulations

Related rules commonly reviewed together with this entry.

Related regulations in Virginia

Explore more rules in the same jurisdiction that may apply to your AI systems.

Source and verification

View source text

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter8/section18.2-386.2/

Last verified:

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