Synthetic Media Laws

The most widespread legal trend is mandatory disclosure: synthetic media that depicts real people must be labeled as such, with the label visible in the medium itself.

Disclosure laws are easier to pass than to enforce, but they establish a baseline that platforms can build moderation tools against.

Beyond disclosure, several jurisdictions have prohibited specific categories of synthetic media outright: non-consensual intimate imagery, election-period impersonation of candidates, and fraud-adjacent voice cloning.

These targeted laws have generally survived court challenge where general bans on synthetic media have not.

Liability for hosting synthetic media is shifting toward platforms in jurisdictions that previously offered broad intermediary immunity. The trend is toward 'notice and stay-down' rather than 'notice and take-down' for the worst categories.