DeSantis signs Brooke’s Law targeting deepfakes

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a slew of bills Tuesday, including one requiring social media platforms to delete deepfakes, or AI-generated sexual depictions of people created without their consent.

Brooke’s Law, named after the Jacksonville teen who spearheaded the proposal, also requires platforms to create by Dec. 31 a process for people to submit requests to remove the sexually explicit content within 48 hours.

While she was a minor in high school, Brooke Curry, daughter of the former Jacksonville mayor, had a picture taken from her social media and sexually altered using AI without her consent.

“Brooke’s Law is not just about me, it’s about all of us. It’s about accountability, dignity, and hope for every person who has been exploited or violated,” Curry said during the bill signing ceremony.

Companies that don’t make good faith efforts to remove deepfakes would violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, meaning the state could pursue damages and civil penalties.

Meanwhile, the governor criticized Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” for a provision prohibiting states from regulating AI for 10 years.

“They can depict you doing awful things. That’s not the world that we want to live in, and so I think that the states need to be able to retain their ability to handle the emerging AI issues,” DeSantis said. “We’re not going to run away from it.”

DeSantis signed three other bills: HB 777 increases penalties for luring children; HB 1351 requires convicted sexual predators to report in-state travel; and HB 1455 establishes mandatory sentences for repeat offenders of sexual offenses.