Prohibits the use of deepfake material against students enrolled in K-12. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 346 creates a new statutory provision, R.S. 17:416.14.1, that prohibits students, faculty members, administrative staff, and other school employees at elementary and secondary schools from using deepfake material against enrolled K-12 students with the intent to coerce, harass, intimidate, or maliciously disseminate or sell the material. The statute defines deepfake as any audio or visual media in electronic format, including motion pictures or video recordings, that is created, altered, or digitally manipulated to falsely appear to a reasonable observer as an authentic record of an individual's actual speech or conduct, or that replaces an individual's likeness with another person's. The definition explicitly excludes material constituting works of political, public interest, or newsworthy value such as commentary, criticism, satire, or parody, as well as material that includes content, context, or clear visible disclosure throughout its duration that would cause a reasonable person to understand the media is not a record of a real event. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, working in collaboration with the Department of Education, receives authority to develop and adopt rules and regulations to implement the statute's provisions.

The prohibition applies directly to school-based individuals including students themselves, teachers, administrators, and other school employees who create, distribute, or use deepfakes targeting K-12 students. School districts and their leadership will face responsibility for developing policies and enforcement mechanisms to address violations, while educators will need to understand the boundaries between prohibited deepfakes and protected forms of expression. Students and their parents will gain a new legal safeguard against digital impersonation and manipulated media used for harassment or coercion within the school environment, though the statute's application remains limited to conduct involving school personnel or other students in an educational setting. The practical impact depends significantly on how BESE and the Department of Education choose to define enforcement procedures, consequences for violations, and the relationship between this new statute and existing student discipline codes.

Senate Bill 346 operates within Louisiana's existing framework governing student conduct and school discipline found in Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. The statute complements existing prohibitions on harassment, bullying, and intimidation in schools but creates a specific mechanism targeting the technology of deepfake material. The definition's inclusion of exceptions for political, public interest, and newsworthy content, as well as material with clear disclosures, reflects First Amendment considerations and preserves space for legitimate educational speech, satirical expression, and protected commentary. The requirement that BESE collaborate with the Department of Education to develop implementation rules acknowledges that the statute's terms, particularly what a reasonable observer would perceive as authentic and what constitutes sufficient disclosure, require administrative interpretation and guidance. The effective date of August 1, 2026, provides school systems time to develop policies and training before enforcement begins.