Blackburn, Coons, Salazar, Dean, Colleagues Introduce Revised Version of NO FAKES Act

This press release from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was published on 2026-05-20 and titled "Blackburn, Coons, Salazar, Dean, Colleagues Introduce Revised Version of NO FAKES Act".

Blackburn, Coons, Salazar, Dean, Colleagues Introduce Revised Version of NO FAKES Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), along with U.S. Representatives Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.), introduced a revised version of their bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act to protect the voice and visual likenesses of individuals and creators from the proliferation of digital replicas created without their consent. Click here to read the updated bill text. "AI should empower innovation - not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone's voice and visual likeness without permission," said Senator Blackburn . "From artists and songwriters to students and everyday Americans, people deserve meaningful protections against deceptive deepfakes and digital impersonation. The NO FAKES Act would establish clear guardrails that protect the creative community in Tennessee and nationwide, and we are grateful to have more support than ever before for this bipartisan and bicameral legislation." "Whether they're Tom Hanks or an 8th grader in Wilmington, no one should worry about someone stealing their voice or likeness," said Senator Coons . "We're reintroducing a stronger NO FAKES Act after working with stakeholders from across the country to make the protections in our bill more robust without compromising Americans' free speech rights. I am proud that NO FAKES is the most advanced piece of AI legislation before Congress right now with the broadest network of supporters. Americans can't afford to wait any longer for Congress to pass this bill and send it to the president's desk." "While AI presents extraordinary opportunities for technological advancement, it also poses some new problems, including the unauthorized replication of the voice and visual likeness of individuals, such as artists," said Senator Tillis . "We must protect against such misuse, and I'm proud to co-introduce this bipartisan legislation to create safeguards from AI, which will result in greater protections for individuals and that which defines them." "Americans from all walks of life are increasingly seeing AI being used to create deepfakes in ads, images, music, and videos without their consent," said Senator Klobuchar . "We need our laws to be as sophisticated as this quickly advancing technology. Our bipartisan NO FAKES Act will establish rules of the road to protect people from having their voice and likeness replicated through AI without their permission." "In this new era of AI, bad actors are quickly and easily profiting from the creativity of others. Our laws must catch up," said Representative Salazar . "The NO FAKES Act is simple and sacred: you own your identity - not Big Tech, not scammers, not algorithms. Deepfakes are digital lies that ruin real lives, and it's time to fight back." BACKGROUND "The use of AI is only growing, and Congress must catch up with common sense, common ground regulations," said Representative Dean . "By granting every person a clear, federal right to control digital replicas of their own voice and likeness, the NO FAKES Act will empower victims of deep fakes; defend against sexually explicit deepfakes; and safeguard human creativity and artistic expression. We must support technological innovation while preserving the privacy, safety, and dignity of all Americans." With the rapid advance of generative artificial intelligence (AI), artists and creators have already begun to see their voices and likenesses used without their consent in videos and songs created as nearly indistinguishable replicas. In one high-profile example, AI-generated replicas of the voices of pop stars Drake and The Weeknd were used to produce a viral song titled "Heart on My Sleeve," generating hundreds of thousands of listens on YouTube, Spotify, and other streaming platforms before it was flagged as a fake and removed from the platforms. The harmful effects of unauthorized AI-generated content go far beyond celebrities. For example, in Maryland, a Baltimore high school athletic director was arrested and charged after using AI to create a deepfake voice recording of the school's principal that included racist and derogatory comments about students and staff - statements the principal never actually made. NO FAKES ACT The NO FAKES Act would address the use of non-consensual digital replications in audiovisual works or sound recordings by: Holding individuals or companies liable if they distribute an unauthorized digital replica of an individual's voice or visual likeness; Holding platforms liable for hosting an unauthorized digital replica if the platform has knowledge of the fact that the replica was not authorized by the individual depicted; Excluding certain digital replicas from coverage based on recognized First Amendment protections; and Preempting future state laws regulating digital replicas. The revised version of the NO FAKES Act: Adds