Florida SB 757: Synthetic Media Law Covering Minors and NCII

AI-generated child sexual abuse videos identified by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) rose 26,385% between 2024 and 2025, from 13 confirmed videos to 3,443. Florida did not wait for a coordinated federal response. On May 27, 2025, Governor DeSantis signed House Bill 757 into law, a statute tracked on the Florida Senate legislative database as SB 757. Unlike most state deepfake laws that address either non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) or child protection separately, Florida HB 757 criminalises both under one framework. This piece explains what the Florida deepfake dual protection law requires, how companion legislation, Brooke’s Law (HB 1161), adds platform obligations, and what compliance looks like for platforms reaching Florida users.

The Scale of the Synthetic Media Problem

The statistics behind the legislation do not leave room for ambiguity. A Childlight “Into the Light” study recorded a 1,325% rise in harmful AI-generated online abuse material between 2023 and 2024, with deepfake tools placing real children’s faces onto sexual imagery and distributing the results across public and dark-web platforms. The IWF’s 2026 report found that 65% of the AI-generated child sexual abuse videos it assessed fell into Category A, the most severe classification on record. Adults face the same threat. The IWF’s research shows 98% of deepfake videos online are sexually explicit, with 99% targeting women and girls. One in 17 young people has personally experienced deepfake image abuse. Florida legislators cited these patterns directly when drafting what has become the Florida deepfake minors law and NCII statute combined in a single act.

What does Florida SB 757 actually cover?

Florida HB 757, filed and tracked in Senate systems as SB 757 and also referred to as the Florida HB757 deepfake law, is a criminal statute that took effect on May 27, 2025. Its scope spans two distinct groups of victims, which separates it from most contemporaneous state legislation that chose one or the other.

For adults, the law prohibits the creation, solicitation, and possession of any altered sexual depiction of an identifiable person produced without that person’s consent. This captures the NCII problem directly. AI tools generate realistic intimate imagery from real faces without any authorisation, and the statute makes producing or holding that imagery a criminal act.

For minors, the statute is categorical. Synthetic child content under Florida SB 757 is treated with the same seriousness as other forms of child sexual abuse material. Where the victim is under 18, Florida’s existing child exploitation statutes apply in parallel, creating a compound exposure for offenders targeting minors.

The dual scope covering adult NCII and synthetic child content under a single act is why Florida HB 757 is frequently described as the Florida AI minor NCII combined bill. Most states have passed one form of protection or the other. Florida wrote both into a single statute, with a shared penalty structure and concurrent civil remedies available to all victims.

What are the penalties under Florida SB 757?

The penalty structure is tiered, with criminal charges and civil claims running at the same time. Florida HB 757 creates meaningful distinctions between different levels of involvement in the creation, possession, and distribution of synthetic intimate imagery. The involvement of a minor as a victim is a separate aggravating factor that can trigger additional charges under Florida’s child exploitation framework.

Creating or soliciting deepfake intimate imagery

Creating, soliciting, or knowingly possessing AI-generated sexually explicit imagery of an identifiable person without consent is a third-degree felony. The maximum sentence is five years in prison, with a fine of up to $5,000. This tier applies regardless of whether the victim is an adult or a minor. Where the victim is under 18, the conduct can trigger additional charges under Florida’s existing child exploitation statutes, which carry substantially higher maximum penalties. The law covers imagery generated by any technology that produces a realistic depiction of a real identifiable person in a sexual context without consent.

Possession with intent to distribute

Possessing synthetic intimate imagery with intent to promote or distribute it escalates to a second-degree felony, carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The distinction between passive possession and distribution-oriented possession is meaningful for prosecution. Sharing a single deepfake image with a third party can move a case into this higher felony tier. The law does not require wide distribution. Intent to share with even one other person meets the threshold.

Civil damages for victims

Florida HB 757 creates an independent civil right of action that runs alongside any criminal proceeding. Damages start at $10,000 per violation, with attorney’s fees recoverable in addition. Civil claims can result in court orders requiring the removal or destruction of the imagery. For victims seeking relief where criminal thresholds are not reached, the civil route under the Florida deepfake minors law provides a direct and independent path. A factual primer on what deepfake content is and how it is generated offers useful background for understanding what qualifies as synthetic intimate imagery under the statute.

What must platforms do under Brooke’s Law and the TAKE IT DOWN Act?

Florida HB 757 handles criminal liability for individuals. A companion statute, HB 1161, known as Brooke’s Law and accompanied in the Senate as SB 1161, addresses the obligations of platforms directly. Understanding the difference between SB 757 and SB 1161 is straightforward. One criminalises the act of creating or possessing synthetic intimate imagery without consent. The other mandates how online platforms must respond when victims report it.

Under HB 1161 (SB 1161), any covered platform serving Florida users must establish and publish a removal policy. On receipt of a valid victim request, the platform has 48 hours to remove the reported content and make reasonable efforts to identify and take down identical copies. The compliance deadline for establishing these systems was December 31, 2025.

At the federal level, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed on May 19, 2025, runs a parallel structure. It federally criminalises knowingly sharing NCII and AI-generated intimate imagery of real people, with increased penalties where the content depicts a minor. Covered platforms have until May 19, 2026, to implement compliant notice-and-removal processes. The removal window mirrors the Florida statute. Platforms must act within 48 hours of receiving valid notice.

Platforms operating in Florida now sit under both frameworks simultaneously. A failure to act on a valid removal request creates concurrent exposure under state and federal enforcement. Platforms deploying synthetic media detection at the upload stage can reduce the volume of removal requests they receive before the 48-hour window ever starts.

How does Shufti help platforms detect synthetic media content?

Platforms required to act within 48 hours of a removal request need more than a reporting button. The operational challenge is that synthetic intimate imagery is difficult to detect at scale without automated tools running upstream. Removal queues fill faster than manual review teams can clear them, and identical copies of a flagged image scatter across platform sections within minutes of the original upload.

Shufti’s deepfake detection runs at the point of upload and interaction, scanning for synthetic media signals across 56+ attack vectors. The coverage includes AI face-swap techniques, frequency-domain manipulation, and injection-based attacks that bypass standard liveness checks. By flagging synthetic content before it propagates, platforms reduce both the volume reaching victims and the reactive removal burden that follows a valid request.

For age-gated platforms with specific obligations around minors, age verification integrated at the point of registration provides a second control layer, limiting access by unverified users and creating an auditable record at onboarding. As of April 2026, Shufti holds DHS RIVR 2025 top-performer status across face verification and age estimation, recognised across diverse demographic groups.

Synthetic media compliance is tightening at both the state and federal levels through 2026. Platforms that put detection and removal infrastructure in place now avoid the reputational and legal exposure that follows a reactive posture when a removal request hits an unprepared queue.