2025 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Act 35 - CRIMES CODE (18 PA.C.S.) - OFFENSE OF DIGITAL FORGERY
Session of 2025
No. 2025-35
SB 649
AN ACT
Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in forgery and fraudulent practices, providing for the offense of digital forgery.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 4101.1. Digital forgery.
(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of digital forgery if, with intent to defraud or injure anyone, or with knowledge and intent the person is facilitating a fraud or injury to be perpetrated by anyone, the person:
(1) generates or creates and distributes a forged digital likeness as genuine; and
(2) knows or reasonably should know the visual representation or audio recording is a forged digital likeness.
(b) Grading.--
(1) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(2) A person who violates this section through involvement in a scheme to defraud, coerce or commit theft of monetary assets or property is guilty of a felony of the third degree.
(c) Exceptions.--This section shall not apply to:
(1) a constitutionally protected activity;
(2) a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of the law enforcement officer's official duties;
(3) a provider or developer of any technology used in the creation of a visual representation or audio recording; or
(4) any information service, system or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet.
(d) Affirmative defense.--It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that the defendant took reasonable action to place viewers or listeners of the forged digital likeness on notice that the forged digital likeness was not genuine.
(e) Construction.--This section shall not be construed to restrict the ability of a person to detect, prevent, respond to or protect against security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities or any illegal activity, preserve the integrity or security of systems or investigate, report or prosecute persons responsible for the action.
(f) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "forged digital likeness" means a computer-generated visual representation of an actual and identifiable individual or audio recording of an actual and identifiable individual's voice that:
(1) has been created, adapted or modified to closely resemble a genuine visual representation or audio record of the individual;
(2) materially misrepresents the appearance, speech or behavior of the individual such that the fundamental character of the individual's appearance, speech or behavior is changed;
(3) is likely to deceive a reasonable person to believe that the visual representation or audio recording is genuine; and
(4) is created and distributed without the consent of the individual.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
APPROVED--The 7th day of July, A.D. 2025.
JOSH SHAPIRO
