‘Nudification’ fines in Minnesota eyed by lawmakers over privacy invasion

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A new bill making its way through the Minnesota Legislature will seek to impose hefty fines on anyone running an app or website that allows people to alter an image or video to reveal another person’s private parts – a process known as "nudification."

Nudification fines for Minnesota

What we know:

Beginning on Aug. 1, 2025, any person who "controls a website, application, software or program" could be fined for allowing a user to access, use or download their technology to "nudify" an image or video.

The bill defines "nudify" as the "process by which an image or video is altered to reveal an intimate part that is not depicted in the original unaltered image or video."

Sponsored by Sen. Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley), the proposal would allow for any person who has been injured by nudification to file a civil lawsuit for damages of no less than $500,000 for each unlawful access, download or use. Minnesota's Attorney General would be the enforcing agency for any criminal penalty.

"With the advancement of AI [artificial intelligence], many things are possible today that might have been unimaginable even five years ago - some good, and some bad," Sen. Maye Quade told the Senate Public Safety Committee on Wednesday. "Some apps and platforms will nudify a picture or video of someone - they will take a photo or video of someone that is clothed, and then make them naked or engaged in sexual acts. And these nudified photos or videos appear very, very real… You have to really look to tell it's AI."

Sen. Maye Quade noted that due to the prevalence of social media, any person can now find a photo of someone online and nudify it, with further protection needed serving as the motivation of the proposal.

"Right now any person can take a photo of our children or grandchildren, put it in an app, and create a very real-looking pornographic video of them naked. And it's creating problems, especially for kids," Sen. Maye Quade said. "With these features readily available, kids can also nudify their classmates, teachers and friends. This bill requires that these companies have these nudifcation functions turned off… You can still make pictures of people with purple hair, you just can't make them naked."

In previous legislative sessions, Sen. Maye Quade has led efforts to restrict social media companies’ usage of children’s data, and sought increased restrictions on a child’s access to such platforms.

"It’s important to remember Meta is explicitly working with products that specifically target child audiences," Sen. Maye Quade said during a committee hearing for the Minnesota Age-Appropriate Design Code Act in January 2024. "We would never allow a company to sell toys that are anywhere adjacent to sexual abuse problems… But yet when it comes to online products we are expected not to regulate them against these harms."

Sen. Maye Quade said her newest proposal not only targets the dissemination of deepfakes, but their creation as well.

Sandy Johnson of Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) testified on behalf of the proposal, saying that when methamphetamine ravaged Minnesota communities, lawmakers targeted chemicals used to make the drug.

"It is time to target the sites that create non-consensual intimate images," Johnson said. "This bill will hold them accountable for their product design."

‘Deepfake’ restrictions

Dig deeper:

Minnesota’s lawmakers have worked in the past to restrict the use and spread of technology that can blur the lines of reality and be used for potential harm.

A bill approved in 2023 provides penalties for those who engage in the creation and spread of "deepfakes" – videos and images that have been digitally created or altered with AI. The tech is often aimed at spreading political misinformation and pornography, among other things.

A person found guilty of their usage can now face up to five years in prison, or a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each instance.

Texas, California and Virginia are among other states with similar laws that restrict the use of deepfakes.

What's next:

To allow time for further amendments, the bill was tabled by the Senate Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, its first committee stop so far. It will be re-referred to several other committees for further discussion on its way to potentially becoming signed into law.