On The Record Utah
Menu

Bills / S.B. 256

S.B. 256 Identity Protection Modifications

Became lawWritten by Sen. Kirk A. Cullimore · carried in the House by Rep. Jordan D. Teuscher

  1. Introduced
  2. Senate committee
  3. Senate vote
  4. House committee
  5. House vote
  6. Signed into law

What this bill does

Creates a new legal claim against people who share non-commercial AI or altered content that imitates a real person in ways that harm reputation or cause distress. Victims must first give notice so the content can be taken down, damages are limited if it is promptly removed, and news, parody, satire, and political speech are exempt.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the sponsor’s presentation in committee and on the floor. Check the official text below.

Official description
  • defines terms
  • clarifies that defamation law applies to content created through artificial intelligence or other technological means
  • requires notice to a publisher before filing a defamation action based on digitally created content
  • limits recovery to actual damages if the publisher removes the content within 10 days after receiving notice
  • establishes an exclusive right to consent to the use of an individual's personal identity
  • expands the definition of abuse of personal identity to include unauthorized distribution and trafficking in identity-replication tools
  • provides exemptions for certain uses of personal identity
  • makes technical and conforming changes
Full text and history on le.utah.gov →
Embed this on your site

Paste this code into a news story, blog, or newsletter page. It updates automatically. Change “county=Weber” to any Utah county to show how that county's legislators voted, or remove it.

Your legislators on this bill

Enter your address to see what your own representative and senator did on this bill.

Quotes come from the official recordings' automatic captions, which can mishear words. Speakers and summaries are identified by AI and can be wrong. Use the ▶ links to check the recording.

Take action

This bill's session is over, but your legislators still want to hear from you. Ideas that died often come back next year.

Enter your address to get your legislators' contact information and a ready-to-send message about this bill.

Every vote

Hearings and debates