Federal law gives deepfake victims a right to sue and recover damages
S. 1837 — DEFIANCE Act of 2025 · Filed by Richard Durbin (D-IL) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced May 21, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The DEFIANCE Act creates a federal civil right of action allowing individuals to sue anyone who creates, possesses with intent to disclose, discloses, or solicits non-consensual intimate digital forgeries (deepfake sexual images). Victims can recover liquidated damages of $150,000–$250,000 (higher if the conduct relates to sexual assault, stalking, or harassment), actual damages, attorney fees, and injunctive relief to remove the content. The law applies to conduct affecting interstate commerce and includes a 10-year statute of limitations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a civil cause of action enabling victims of non-consensual intimate digital forgeries to recover damages and obtain injunctive relief. It is protective legislation addressing a documented harm (image-based sexual abuse), not a regulatory carve-out, subsidy, or commemorative measure.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'intimate digital forgery' requires that the forgery be 'indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction when viewed as a whole by a reasonable person'—this may create litigation over borderline cases and could exclude crude or obviously fake deepfakes, potentially narrowing the law's reach.
- The law applies only to conduct 'in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce'—purely intrastate creation and distribution may fall outside federal jurisdiction, leaving gaps in coverage depending on state law.
- Liquidated damages are fixed at $150,000–$250,000 regardless of actual harm; this may be challenged as punitive rather than compensatory, and courts may reduce awards in cases of minimal actual injury.
- The 10-year statute of limitations runs from discovery or age 18, whichever is later—victims who do not discover the forgery within 10 years of its creation may be barred from suit, even if the content remains in circulation.
- The law does not create criminal penalties; enforcement depends on victims identifying perpetrators and filing civil suits, which may be difficult for anonymous online actors or those outside the U.S.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates enforceable legal remedies for a serious form of image-based sexual abuse that causes documented psychological and social harm to victims. It shifts power from perpetrators (who currently face few consequences) to victims by enabling civil recovery, content removal, and deterrence through liquidated damages. The law does not restrict citizens' rights or speech; it restricts non-consensual sexual abuse.
Named in the bill
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. District Courts, Section 1309 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2255
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 1 Independents.
- May 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 21, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S3059-3060)”
- Jan 13, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on the Judiciary discharged by Unanimous Consent”
- Jan 13, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S143-147; text: CR S145-146)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
4 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,086,909 in lobbying spend. A filing names 33 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.
Richard Durbin, the sponsor, reported $-29,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Software & Information Industry Association — $1,396,909 on 1 filing
- United States Telecom Assn — $620,000 on 1 filing
- Bumble Trading LLC — $50,000 on 1 filing
- Computer & Communications Industry Association — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,239 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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