SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE, No. 2544
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 24, 2024
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports
favorably a Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 2544.
This Senate Committee Substitute establishes criminal and civil
penalties for the production or dissemination of deceptive audio or
visual media, commonly known as “deepfakes.” The committee
substitute clarifies certain free speech exceptions applicable to
interactive computer service providers, cloud services providers,
commercial developers or providers of artificial intelligence
technology, advertisers, the news media, and other media companies.
Prohibitions
The committee substitute establishes a crime of the third degree if
a natural person, without license or privilege to do so, generates or
creates, or causes to be generated or created, deceptive audio or visual
media with the intent that it be used as part of a plan or course of
conduct to commit any crime, including but not limited to:
(1) a crime or offense under chapters 14 (sexual offenses), 16
(bias crimes), 20 (theft), 21 (forgery and fraud), 28 (perjury), or 29
(obstruction of justice) of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes;
(2) advertising commercial sex abuse of a minor;
(3) endangering the welfare of children and child pornography;
(4) threats or improper influence in official and political matters;
(5) false public alarms;
(6) harassment;
(7) cyber-harassment; or
(8) hazing.
The trier of fact may infer that a work of deceptive audio or visual
media was generated or created without license or privilege to do so if
the work was generated or created using a commercially or publicly
available generative artificial intelligence system in violation of the
terms of service, terms of use, or end user license agreement of the
system.
The committee substitute also establishes a crime of the third
degree if a natural person, without license or privilege to do so,
solicits, uses, or discloses a work of deceptive audio or visual media as
part of a plan or course of conduct to commit any crime. 2
The committee substitute also establishes a crime of the third
degree if a natural person, without license or privilege to do so,
discloses a work of deceptive audio or visual media that the person
knows or should reasonably know was created in violation of this bill.
Criminal Penalties
A crime of the third degree is punishable by a three to five year
term of imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. In addition,
the bill imposes an additional fine of up to $30,000. A conviction for a
violation of this bill does not merge with a conviction for the
underlying crime in which the deepfake is used.
Civil Remedies
Under the committee substitute, a person would be liable to the
victim of a violation of the committee substitute, who may bring a
civil action in the Superior Court. Victims are not limited to persons
depicted in the deepfake, but includes any person who suffers
personal, physical, or psychological injury or incurs loss of or injury to
personal or real property as a result of the violation. The bill further
provides that a conviction is not a prerequisite for a civil action. The
civil action authorized by this bill is to be in addition to, and not in lieu
of any other civil action, injunctive relief, or other remedy available at
law.
Exceptions
The committee substitute contains certain free speech exceptions if
a deepfake that is clearly identified as a work of deceptive audio or
visual media or, if the deceptive nature of the work is unknown or
unverified, clearly identified as a possible work of deceptive audio or
visual media, is disclosed in connection with criticism, comment,
satire, parody, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Additionally, the bill does not apply to interactive computer service
providers, cloud services providers, or commercial developers or
providers of artificial intelligence technology pursuant to 47 U.S.C.
s.230. The committee substitute does not apply to television, cable, or
radio stations, or other carriers of advertising, such as websites,
billboards, newspapers, magazines, mobile apps, or streaming video
platforms, through which an advertisement containing deceptive audio
or visual media appears. The committee substitute does not apply to
broadcasters, websites, newspapers, or magazines that routinely carry
news and commentary of general interest that broadcast or publish a
deepfake, provided that it is done for the purpose of disseminating
newsworthy facts and contains a disclaimer concerning the inaccurate
nature of the deepfake. If the deceptive nature of the work is unknown
or unverified, the broadcast or publication is required to clearly
contain a disclaimer which is either shown or read aloud that identifies
the work as a possible work of deceptive audio or visual media. 3
Finally, the committee substitute does not apply to disclosures in
connection with a law enforcement investigation or pursuant to court
order, or in furtherance of an investigation concerning fraud,
cybersecurity, identity theft, harassment, or a violation of a
commercial computer network’s contractual terms of service.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill
may result in indeterminate annual State cost and revenue increases.
The bill’s establishment of criminal penalties may result in the
Department of Law and Public Safety prosecuting additional cases; the
Judiciary adjudicating additional cases; and the Office of the Public
Defender representing additional indigent criminal offenders. The
OLS cannot quantify the exact fiscal impact since the number of cases
and convictions resulting from the bill’s provisions cannot be known.
The State may realize an indeterminate increase in annual revenues
from the collection of regular and enhanced fines and court fees.
However, the State’s ability to collect these penalties and fees has
historically been limited.