An act relating to crimes and punishments, the official text

1                            STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2   2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)

3 HOUSE BILL 3299            By: Hays

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6                            AS INTRODUCED

7   An Act relating to crimes and punishments; making

    certain acts unlawful; providing penalties; providing

8   for civil damages; providing exceptions; directing

    certain entities to obtain attestations from content

9   creators; requiring retention of attestations for

    certain period of time; defining terms; providing for

10  codification; and declaring an emergency.

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13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

14  SECTION 1.      NEW LAW  A new section of law to be codified

15 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1629 of Title 21, unless there

16 is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

17  A. It shall be unlawful for any person to create and

18 disseminate a digitization or synthetic media depicting the name,

19 image, voice, or likeness of another person without his or her

20 written consent, and attempt to deceive with the intent to cause

21 emotional, financial, or physical harm.

22  1. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection

23 shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a

24 fine not to exceed the maximum amount authorized for a misdemeanor

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1 offense under Oklahoma law, or by imprisonment in the county jail

2 for a term not to exceed one (1) year, or by both such fine and

3 imprisonment.

4   2. A violation of this subsection shall be a felony if:

5   a. the offense results in financial harm to the victim

6                 exceeding Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00),

7                 or

8   b. the digitized or synthetic media is used for the

9                 purpose of extortion, coercion, blackmail, or to

10                obtain anything of value through threat or

11                intimidation.

12 Upon conviction, the person shall be punished by imprisonment in the

13 custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not exceeding

14 five (5) years, or by a fine not to exceed the maximum amount

15 authorized for a felony under Oklahoma law, or by both such fine and

16 imprisonment.

17  3. Each use or dissemination of digitized or synthetic media

18 may constitute a separate offense.

19  4. In addition, such person shall be liable for the amount of

20 damages, losses and expenses, including court costs and attorney

21 fees incurred for the unlawful dissemination of digitized or

22 synthetic content, which may be recovered in a civil action.

23  5. It shall be lawful and there shall be no liability for the

24 creation and dissemination of a digitization or synthetic media for

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1 which the sole purpose is for news reporting, commentary, satire or

2 parody.

3   B. 1. Not less than forty-five (45) days preceding a primary,

4 general, or special election, digitization or synthetic media used

5 in any political advertising or television commercial depicting the

6 name, image, voice, or likeness of a political candidate shall

7 include a disclosure that the advertisement or television commercial

8 contains digitized or synthetic content. Any person who violates

9 the provisions of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be guilty

10 of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a

11 term of not more than one (1) year and by a fine of Two Thousand

12 Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00). In addition, such person shall be

13 liable for the amount of damages, losses and expenses, including

14 court costs and attorney fees incurred for the unlawful

15 dissemination of digitized or synthetic content, which may be

16 recovered in a civil action.

17  2. Any media advertising agency shall require all content

18 creators to sign an attestation certifying whether the advertisement

19 contains digitized or synthetically altered content, as defined in

20 subsection C of this section, when such digitized or synthetically

21 altered content is used in the creation of the advertisement. The

22 attestation shall be retained by the media advertising agency for a

23 period of not less than twenty-four (24) months and shall be made

24 available upon request to the appropriate enforcement authority,

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1   C. For purposes of this act:

2   1. "Digitization" or "synthetic media" means any still image,

3 video, or audio recording that has been generated or materially

4 altered using digital or computational techniques so as to falsely

5 appear authentic, and in a manner that a reasonable person would

6 believe depicts a real person engaging in speech or conduct that did

7 not occur; and

8   2. "Disseminate" means to give, provide, lend, deliver, mail,

9 send, forward, transfer, or transmit, electronically or otherwise,

10 to another person.

11  SECTION 2. It being immediately necessary for the preservation

12 of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby

13 declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and

14 be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

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16  60-2-14080         GRS  01/13/26

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