Oklahoma House panel advances bill targeting AI-generated impersonations and requiring election-ad disclosures statewide
Legislation would criminalize harmful, nonconsensual AI impersonations and mandate disclosures in some political advertising
An Oklahoma House committee advanced legislation Tuesday aimed at curbing the use of artificial intelligence to create realistic but false media of identifiable people without permission, as lawmakers weigh how to address fast-evolving tools that can replicate a person’s face, voice or likeness.
House Bill 3299, authored by Rep. Neil Hays, R-Checotah, was advanced unanimously by the House Criminal Judiciary Committee on Feb. 17, 2026. The proposal focuses on how AI-generated or digitally altered content is used, rather than regulating the underlying technology.
What HB 3299 would do
Under the bill as introduced, it would be unlawful to create and disseminate “digitization” or “synthetic media” depicting another person’s name, image, voice or likeness without written consent, when done with an intent to deceive and an intent to cause emotional, financial or physical harm. The legislation defines digitization or synthetic media as still images, video, or audio recordings that are generated or materially altered using digital or computational techniques to falsely appear authentic in a way a reasonable person would believe depicts real speech or conduct that did not occur.
Criminal penalties: The baseline offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine at the statutory misdemeanor maximum.
Felony triggers: The offense would rise to a felony if financial harm exceeds $25,000, or if the media is used for extortion, coercion, blackmail, or to obtain anything of value through threat or intimidation. The felony would be punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine at the statutory felony maximum.
Separate offenses and civil liability: Each use or dissemination could constitute a separate offense, and the person could face civil liability for damages, losses and expenses, including court costs and attorney fees.
The measure also includes a carve-out stating it would be lawful, with no liability, if the sole purpose of the creation and dissemination is news reporting, commentary, satire or parody.
Election-related disclosure requirement
HB 3299 would add a separate requirement for political communications: beginning 45 days before a primary, general or special election, political advertising or television commercials depicting the name, image, voice or likeness of a political candidate would have to include a disclosure that the ad contains digitized or synthetic content.
Failure to disclose would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a $2,500 fine, along with potential civil liability for damages and legal costs.
The bill would also require media advertising agencies to obtain an attestation from content creators certifying whether an advertisement contains digitized or synthetically altered content, and to retain the attestation for at least 24 months for inspection by enforcement authorities.
How this fits into a broader policy trend
HB 3299 is part of a growing legislative push to address risks tied to synthetic media, including reputational harm, fraud and election-related deception. In Oklahoma, lawmakers have previously considered proposals focused specifically on campaign deepfakes, while other measures in recent sessions have targeted AI-generated sexual exploitation imagery. HB 3299 combines a general criminal prohibition tied to intent-to-harm impersonation with an election-ad transparency requirement during a defined pre-election window.
HB 3299 has advanced from committee but would still need approval by the full House and Senate before it could be sent to the governor.