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7/8/2025
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Knight bill prohibiting deepfake sexual exploitation enacted
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STATE HOUSE – A new law sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight has updated the state’s “revenge porn” law to include content generated using artificial intelligence to impose a person’s likeness onto sexually explicit material.
The original statute, adopted in 2018, prohibited unauthorized dissemination of sexually explicit images of another person. Representative Knight’s legislation (2025-H 5046), which took effect upon passage, expands it to apply to images created by a digital device or altered by digitization, often referred to as deepfakes.
“Victims of technically enabled sexual exploitation have no involvement in the making of any of this material and of course, gave no consent. Once the images are shared, there’s no way to take them back, so the harm is permanent. Celebrities and politicians have been targeted by this practice for several years, and now the technology is so widely available that average citizens are also being victimized,” said Representative Knight (D-Dist. 67, Barrington, Warren). “Without question, deepfake porn is a heinous criminal act, and it should be subject to the laws that prohibit the distribution of sexually exploitative material.”
As of June last year, 27 states had enacted laws prohibiting technology-enabled sexual exploitation, including New York, whose law Representative Knight used as a source for the text in his bill.
The legislation was signed into law July 2 after passage by the General Assembly June 20. Sen. Elaine J. Morgan (R-Dist. 34, Hopkinton, Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, West Greenwich) sponsored the bill (2025-S 0136) in the Senate.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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