AI Sexual Deepfakes in Texas: Understanding the New Civil Remedies Under Chapter 98B

AI tools can generate nude or sexually explicit images that appear to depict real people who never consented to the images being made. Nudification apps and sexual deepfakes have lowered the barrier to creating and circulating this kind of material.

Effective September 1, 2025, amendments to Chapter 98B of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code expanded civil liability to cover ‘artificial intimate visual material’: computer-generated intimate material in which a real person is recognizable by their face, likeness, voice or another distinguishing characteristic.

Who can face liability under Chapter 98B?

Chapter 98B allows a civil claim against a person who produces, solicits, discloses or promotes artificial intimate visual material without effective consent, intends to cause harm and actually causes harm. The depicted person must also be identifiable from the material. A person who creates the image, requests its creation or promotes it can also face liability if the statutory requirements are met.

A sexual abuse attorney in Houston victims turn to for image-based abuse claims can identify who was involved in creating, distributing, hosting or monetizing the material and assess whether Chapter 98B applies.

When websites and apps can face liability

A website or app owner can face liability for recklessly facilitating the paid production or disclosure of artificial intimate visual material, owning a publicly accessible nudification app that produces the material or recklessly processing or facilitating payment for it. In each situation, the statute requires that the person know or recklessly disregard that the depicted person did not consent to the production or disclosure.

If artificial intimate visual material is disclosed on a website or app, the depicted person may request its removal. The owner can face liability for leaving the material up more than 72 hours after receiving the request or for not making reasonable efforts to find and remove known identical copies.

Covered websites and apps must provide a removal-request mechanism that is readily accessible and explain how a person can submit a request.

Damages and other remedies under Chapter 98B

A claimant who prevails under Chapter 98B is entitled to actual damages, including mental anguish damages, as well as court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. A successful claimant may also recover exemplary damages.

Courts may issue temporary restraining orders or temporary or permanent injunctions barring further disclosure or promotion of the intimate material.

Chapter 98B also allows a claimant to use a confidential identity in court filings and proceedings. For a person concerned that a lawsuit could draw more attention to the images, confidentiality can reduce the risk of their name becoming part of the public court record.

Digital evidence can be critical to a Chapter 98B claim

Digital content can disappear, change or be reposted under different accounts. Screenshots, URLs, usernames, timestamps, messages, payment records and copies of removal requests can preserve evidence of who created or shared the material, where it appeared and when a removal request was sent. A Houston personal injury attorney familiar with image-based sexual abuse claims can examine how the material was created, distributed and hosted to determine which civil claims are available.

If AI-generated intimate imagery of you has been created or shared without your consent, Chelsie Garza Law can review who created or distributed it, whether a platform received a removal request and which Chapter 98B remedies may be available. Contact Chelsie Garza Law to discuss your case.

FAQs

1. Does Chapter 98B apply only to people who post AI-generated sexual images online?

No. The law can also apply to a person who produces, solicits or promotes artificial intimate visual material when the statute’s other requirements are satisfied.

2. Can the owner of a nudification app face liability under Chapter 98B?

Yes, in specified circumstances. The statute covers an owner of a publicly accessible nudification app from which the material is produced when the owner knows or recklessly disregards that the depicted person did not consent to its production or disclosure.

3. What happens after someone asks a website or app to remove a sexual deepfake?

Chapter 98B requires the owner to remove the material within 72 hours of receiving the request and make reasonable efforts to identify and remove known identical copies. The law also requires websites and apps covered by the provision to provide an accessible removal-request system.

4. Can someone seek more than financial compensation under Chapter 98B?

Yes. In addition to damages available under the chapter, courts may grant temporary restraining orders or temporary or permanent injunctions involving further disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.

5. Can a claimant keep their identity confidential in a Chapter 98B lawsuit?

Yes. Chapter 98B permits a claimant to use a confidential identity, including a pseudonym and the omission of other identifying information, although certain people involved in the case are still permitted to know the claimant’s true identity.

Location: Texas, USA

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