Texas SB 751: Election Deepfake Law and the Pre-Election Window
Definition: Texas SB 751 amended the Election Code to criminalize creating or publishing a deceptive deepfake video to injure a candidate or influence an election within 30 days of that election.
TL;DR: SB 751 took effect 1 September 2019 as Election Code Section 255.004. It targets deepfake video published within a 30-day pre-election window with intent to harm a candidate or sway a vote. Violation is a Class A misdemeanor. Provenance lets campaigns prove which materials are authentic.
What the law covers
SB 751 focuses on a deepfake video created to deceive and published within 30 days of an election with intent to injure a candidate or influence the outcome. The narrow window and the intent requirement keep it targeted at the most damaging election-eve fakes, where there is no time to debunk before votes are cast.
The defense is provenance, not detection
In a fast news cycle, debunking a fake takes longer than the fake takes to spread. The durable defense is to sign authentic candidate and party materials in advance so a provenance lookup is instant. A verifier confirms the real video; the fake has no valid manifest.
Batch signing for campaigns
Campaigns can batch-sign their materials so every official asset carries a manifest, a watermark, and an anchor. When a disputed clip appears, the question becomes a quick check rather than a forensic argument.
The incident behind this
The FCC reached a $1 million consent decree with Lingo Telecom on 21 August 2024 over the AI-cloned Biden robocall in New Hampshire, and pursued a separate forfeiture against the operative behind it. The episode showed how fast synthetic political media can move during an election.
Regulatory mapping
| Regime | Effective | Bite | Why it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Election Code 255.004 | 1 Sep 2019 | Class A misdemeanor | Deceptive election deepfake in 30-day window |
FAQ
Does SB 751 cover audio?
The statute centers on deepfake video. Audio robocalls have been pursued federally, as in the FCC's Lingo Telecom action.
Where Original Pictures stands today
Original Pictures ships three things today: a Sign API, a Verify API, and the SDKs that wrap them. One POST /v1/sign attaches a C2PA-format manifest, an invisible TrustMark watermark, and an OpenTimestamps anchor. The open-source verifier checks any of it without calling us.
Two things are on the near roadmap, and we name them as roadmap, not as shipped: C2PA Conformance Program recognition (target Q3 2026, until then our manifests use the published C2PA v2.2 format and any C2PA-aware validator can read them, but third-party validators will show our signer as not-yet-listed), and a consumer capture app (Q3 2026). We do not sell a capture SDK, and we do not claim Trust-List membership we do not yet hold.
Bottom line: SB 751 punishes election-eve video fakes. Batch-sign official campaign materials in advance so authenticity is a one-step lookup when a disputed clip appears.
Related
Original Pictures is progressing through the C2PA Conformance Program; our signing certificate is not yet on the official C2PA Trust List. Target: Q3 2026. We will not describe ourselves as "C2PA-certified" until it is true.
Original Pictures provides content-provenance infrastructure. It does not by itself constitute legal compliance with the EU AI Act or any other regime; compliance depends on how you deploy it, your disclosures, and your governance. Figures are drawn from public reporting, verify against primary sources before citing in regulated materials. Nothing here is legal advice.
Last verified 2026-05-25. Author: Mahdi Kazempour, Founder, Original Pictures.