republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/152/hb-316.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEEP FAKES IN ELECTIONS.	This Act creates a new elections crime: “use of deep fake technology to influence an election.” Under this statute it would be a crime to distribute within 90 days of an election a “deep fake” – that is an audio or visual depiction that has been manipulated or created with generative adversarial network techniques, with the intent of harming a party or candidate or otherwise deceiving voters. It is not a crime, nor is there a penalty, if the altered media contains a disclaimer stating “This audio/video/image has been altered or artificially generated.” There is also provision for civil injunctive relief for a candidate depicted in a deep fake. There are various exceptions to protect speech, expression, and media rights. A violation of this statute is a class B misdemeanor unless the deepfake is intended to cause violence or bodily harm, in which case it is a class A misdemeanor, or if it is a repeat offense within 5 years, in which case it is a class E felony. Pursuant to § 5101 of Title 15, all offenses under this section are heard in Superior Court.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	152	HB 316	Delaware HB 316 (152)	bill		enacted	Brian Pettyjohn Bryan Townsend Cyndie Romer Marie Pinkney Michael Ramone Nicole Poore Paul S. Baumbach Russell Huxtable Sean Matthews Valerie Longhurst	4	14	3	2024-03-21	2024-10-09	openstates	ocd-bill/a4a4f618-4ef1-4257-8bb5-b8027de1d1b2	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=141109	b43e5ce613b4cca219a74e21cd7907d27a0cb27e37aaf85df82f2c523ba2d082	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 316 (152) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEEP FAKES IN ELECTIONS.

This Act creates a new elections crime: “use of deep fake technology to influence an election.” Under this statute it would be a crime to distribute within 90 days of an election a “deep fake” – that is an audio or visual depiction that has been manipulated or created with generative adversarial network techniques, with the intent of harming a party or candidate or otherwise deceiving voters. It is not a crime, nor is there a penalty, if the altered media contains a disclaimer stating “This audio/video/image has been altered or artificially generated.” There is also provision for civil injunctive relief for a candidate depicted in a deep fake. There are various exceptions to protect speech, expression, and media rights. A violation of this statute is a class B misdemeanor unless the deepfake is intended to cause violence or bodily harm, in which case it is a class A misdemeanor, or if it is a repeat offense within 5 years, in which case it is a class E felony. Pursuant to § 5101 of Title 15, all offenses under this section are heard in Superior Court.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source
2. HA 1 to HS 1 for HB 316 (committee substitute) — source
3. HA 2 to HS 1 for HB 316 (committee substitute) — source
4. SA 1 to HS 1 for HB 316 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 40–1 (pass) · lower
• SM — 37–0 (pass) · lower
• SM — 21–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Brian Pettyjohn — primary (person)
• Bryan Townsend — primary (person)
• Cyndie Romer — primary (person)
• Marie Pinkney — primary (person)
• Michael Ramone — primary (person)
• Nicole Poore — primary (person)
• Paul S. Baumbach — primary (person)
• Russell Huxtable — primary (person)
• Sean Matthews — primary (person)
• Valerie Longhurst — primary (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2024-03-21 Adopted in lieu of the original bill HB 316, and Assigned to Administration Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2024-04-16 Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2024-04-24 Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2024-05-09 Amendment HA 2 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2024-05-09 Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2024-05-09 Amendment HA 2 to HS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2024-05-09 Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 2 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT passage
• 2024-05-09 Assigned to Elections & Government Affairs Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2024-06-12 Reported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 7 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2024-06-26 Amendment SA 1 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2024-06-27 Amendment SA 1 to HS 1 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES amendment-passage
• 2024-06-27 Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES passage
• 2024-06-30 Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 NO passage
• 2024-10-09 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/a4a4f618-4ef1-4257-8bb5-b8027de1d1b2. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).