Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

9-2025

Abstract

This Article explores how U.S. tort law can respond more effectively to the distinct harms posed by deepfakes, including reputational injury, identity appropriation, and emotional distress. Traditional tort doctrines, such as defamation, the right of publicity, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), remain fragmented and ill-suited to the speed, scale, and anonymity of deepfake dissemination. Using a comparative functionalist approach, the Article analyzes how China and Singapore respond to deepfake harms through structurally divergent but functionally instructive frameworks. China’s model combines codified personality rights with intermediary obligations under a civil law regime, while Singapore adopts a hybrid approach that integrates common law torts with targeted statutory and administrative interventions. Although neither model is directly replicable in the United States, both offer valuable comparative insights to guide the reform of U.S. tort law. The article advances an integrated governance model for U.S. tort law: reconstructing personality-based torts, repositioning tort law through conditional intermediary liability, and clarifying constitutionally grounded limits for speech-based claims. Drawing on Chinese and Singaporean legal approaches, the Article sets out a comparative reform framework that enables U.S. tort law to better address deepfake harms while safeguarding autonomy and dignity in AI-driven digital environments.

Keywords

deepfakes, tort law, personality rights, intermediary liability, First Amendment, comparative law

Discipline

Torts

Research Areas

Private Law

Publication

Journal of Tort Law

ISSN

1932-9148

Identifier

10.1515/jtl-2025-0028

Publisher

De Gruyter

Additional URL

http://doi.org/10.1515/jtl-2025-0028

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