SB 483 — AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF DIGITAL DEFRAUDING.

Substitute Senate GeneralBill Assembly File No.

578483 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No.

48326-119 Senate,AN AprilACT 9,ESTABLISHING 2026THE TheCRIME CommitteeOF onDIGITAL JudiciaryDEFRAUDING. reportedthrough SEN.

WINFIELD of the 10th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF DIGITAL FORGERY.

(NEW)Section (Effective53a-119 Octoberof 1,the 2026)general (a)statutes A person is guiltyamended ofby digitaladding forgerysubdivision when(19) suchas person,follows with(Effective intentOctober to1, cause2026): financial injury to another person, creates and disseminates a visual representation or audio recording that such person knows or should have known is a digitally forged likeness.

(b)(NEW) For(19) purposesDigital ofdefrauding. this section:

(1)(A) "Disseminate"A meansperson is guilty of digital defrauding when such person, with intent to sell,cause give,financial provide,injury lend,to trade,another mail,person, deliver,creates transfer,and publish,distribute,disseminates circulate,a present,exhibit,advertisevisual representation or otherwiseaudio offer;recording that such person knows or should have known is a digitally forged likeness.

and(B) (2)"DigitallyFor forgedpurposes likeness" means any photograph, film, videotape or other visual representation of athis personsubdivision, or(i) an"disseminate" audiomeans recordingto ofsell, agive, person'svoiceprovide, thatlend, (A)is(i)nottrade, whollymail, recordedbydeliver, acameraortransfer, anaudiopublish, recorder,distribute, orcirculate, (ii)present, eitherexhibit, partiallyadvertise or whollyotherwise generatedoffer; by a computer sSB483 / File No.

578and 1(ii) sSB483"Digitally Fileforged No.likeness" means any photograph, film, videotape or other visual representation of a person or an audio recording of a person's voice that (I) is not wholly recorded by a camera or anaudio recorder,or either partially or wholly generated by a computer system, (II) depicts, and is virtually indistinguishable from what a reasonable person would believe is the actual depiction of an identifiable person's image or voice, and (III) is created without the consent of the person whose image or voice is depicted.

578(C) system,In (B)any depicts,prosecution andfor isan virtuallyoffense indistinguishableunder fromthis whatsubdivision, ait reasonableshall personbe would believe is the actual depiction of an identifiableaffirmative person'sdefense imagethat or voice, and (C) is created without the consentdefendant oftook thereasonable personaction whoseto imageplace orSubstitute voiceSenate isBill depicted.No.

(c)483 Theviewers provisionsor listeners of subsectiona (a)digitally offorged thislikeness sectionon shallnotice notthat applysuch tovisual anyrepresentation visualrepresentationoror audio recording createdoris disseminatedby a lawdigitally enforcementforged officerlikeness. while in the performance of such law enforcement officer's official duties.

(d)(D) DigitalNothing forgeryin isthis asubdivision (1)shall classbe Aconstrued misdemeanor,to orimpose (2)liability classon Ethe felonyprovider ifof an interactive computer service, as defined in 47 USC 230, an information service, as defined in 47 USC 153, or a persontelecommunications violatedservice, subsectionas (a)defined in section 16-247a, for the creation of thiscontent sectionat asthe partrequest of aanother schemeperson initiatedor the dissemination of content provided by another person, provided such provider did not know that such content was being created or participateddisseminated in byviolation suchof person.this subdivision.

(e)Governor's InAction: any prosecution for an offense under this section, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant took reasonable action to place viewers or listeners of a digitally forged likeness on notice that such visual representation or audio recording is a digitally forged likeness.

(f)Approved NothingJune in4, this2026 sectionPublic shallAct beNo. construed to impose liability on the provider of an interactive computer service, as defined in 47 USC 230, an information service, as defined in 47 USC 153, or a telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a of the general statutes, for the creation of content at the request of another person or the dissemination of content provided by another person, provided such provider did not know that such content was being created or disseminated in violation of subsection (a) of this section.

This26-119 act2 shallof take2 effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section JUD Joint Favorable Subst.

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578 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Correction, Dept.;

Judicial Dept.

GF - Potential Minimal Minimal (Probation) Cost Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill creates a new crime of digital forgery, punishable as a class A misdemeanor or class E felony, which results in a potential cost to the Department of Correction and the Judicial Department for incarceration or probation and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines.

On average, the marginal cost to the state for incarcerating an offender for the year is $3,300 while the average marginal cost for supervision in the community is less than $600 each year for adults and $450 each year for juveniles.

The Out Years 1Inmate marginal cost is based on increased consumables (e.g., food, clothing, water, sewage, living supplies, etc.) This does not include a change in staffing costs or utility expenses because these expenses would only be realized if a unit or facility opened.

2Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only includes costs that increase with each additional participant.

This does not include a cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation officers.

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578 The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of offenses and fines collected.

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578 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 483 AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF DIGITAL FORGERY.

SUMMARY This bill creates a new crime of digital forgery, which is when someone, intending to financially injure someone else, makes and disseminates a visual representation or audio recording that he or she knows or should have known is a digitally forged likeness.

Under the bill, a “digitally forged likeness” is visual representation (sucha photo, film, orvideotape)or anaudiorecording,createdwithout consent from the person whose image or voice is included, that is (1) not entirely recordedby a camera or audio recorder or (2) generated, at least in part, by a computer system.