SB2373

What conduct is covered: Artificially generated media includes images, audio, video, broadcasts, text and other media created or modified using AI or other software with intent to deceive. Phishing means attempts to manipulate people into providing personal, financial or identifying information digitally. Civil liability requires knowing or intentional dissemination for financial exploitation and resulting damages; the criminal offense requires knowingly engaging in financial abuse by the specified methods. The incorporated definitions cover wrongful use or taking of another person’s property and related exploitation; these new provisions are not limited to elderly victims merely because the borrowed criminal definition appears in an elder-abuse statute. Final law; Financial-exploitation definition; Financial-abuse definition.

Civil remedies: A successful claimant must receive actual damages, including mental anguish and attributable defendant profits, plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. On the claimant’s motion, the court may stop further dissemination to that claimant through a restraining order or injunction. Separately, the attorney general may seek a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each day the media or communication is disseminated, in Travis County or a county where relevant events occurred. That penalty is not a guaranteed payment to the victim. Final law, sections 100B.002–.003.

Criminal levels: The property value determines the offense level: less than $100, Class B misdemeanor; $100 to under $750, Class A misdemeanor; $750 to under $2,500, state-jail felony; $2,500 to under $30,000, third-degree felony; $30,000 to under $150,000, second-degree felony; and $150,000 or more, first-degree felony. At the ends of that scale, ordinary punishment ranges from up to 180 days in jail and/or a $2,000 fine for Class B to 5–99 years or life, with a possible $10,000 fine, for first-degree felony. These are offense classifications and ordinary ranges, not predictions of an individual sentence. Final law, section 32.56; Class B punishment; First-degree punishment.

Privacy and limits: In the new civil actions, the person who is the subject of the action may use a confidential identity; courts must give notice of that option, protect filings and records, and restrict disclosure of the true identity. The court, parties, their attorneys and specifically authorized people can know the identity under protective orders, so this is not anonymity from the opposing party. Civil and criminal provisions exclude liability for another person’s content for federally defined interactive-computer-service providers, telecommunications services and FCC-licensed radio or television stations. That is not blanket immunity for a provider’s own content. Final law, sections 100B.002–.004 and 32.56(d); Federal computer-service definition, subsection (f); Federal telecommunications definitions.

Changes during passage: The Senate committee removed proposed express defenses for law-enforcement activity and conspicuously labeled artificial media, added provider protections, revised definitions, and removed proposed restrictions on prosecution under both this law and the elder-abuse law. Those removed defenses are not enacted safe harbors. The House committee added FCC-licensed broadcasters to the protections for another person’s content. The Senate-passed text matched its committee version, and the final operative text matched the House committee version. The amendment index lists no separate floor amendments; the changes came through committee substitutes, which the Senate ultimately accepted. Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Amendment index; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Victims gain an express route to damages, legal fees and court orders, while prosecutors gain a value-based offense. Collection still depends on proving a claim and recovering from a defendant; the law does not fund automatic reimbursement. More cases could burden courts, law enforcement and correctional systems. The May 16 fiscal note says overall state and local effects cannot be determined because the number of cases and prevalence of the conduct are unknown. The attorney general expected its additional work to fit existing resources, but that is not a finding of no overall cost. No measured reduction in scams is established by these legislative sources. Latest fiscal note; Criminal-justice impact statement; Final law.