S 3990 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Relates to establishing the offense of false pretense

S 3990 would create a new class D felony offense for knowingly impersonating someone online (e.g., via social media, email, or other electronic means) with the intent to harm, intimidate, threaten, or defraud them. It defines "credible impersonation" as when others reasonably believe the impersonator is the real person. The law specifically targets malicious online impersonation, including accessing accounts or profiles under another's name, and applies to social media and email accounts. This bill directly affects individuals who commit such intentional online impersonation for harmful purposes.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 31, 2025 Last action Jun 15, 2026

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What changed between versions

S3990 → S3990A · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was amended to broaden its scope from only the Penal Law to include the Civil Rights Law, adding new civil remedies for victims. The name of the act was changed to the 'Barakett digital safety act,' and the definition of false pretense was updated to explicitly include the use of artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and synthetic media. Additionally, the penalties were adjusted to be a misdemeanor by default, escalating to a felony only in severe cases involving significant financial loss, threats of physical harm, or AI-based fraud.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include civil legal remedies in the Civil Rights Law, allowing courts to award damages and issue injunctions against impersonators.

SCOPE

The bill now amends both the Penal Law and the Civil Rights Law, creating a new civil cause of action for victims of digital impersonation.

DEFINITION

The definition of impersonation was updated to explicitly include the use of artificial intelligence, generative models, deepfakes, and synthetic audio or video.

ENFORCEMENT

Penalties were restructured so that false pretense is generally a misdemeanor, but becomes a felony if it causes significant financial loss, threatens physical harm, or uses AI technology for fraud or extortion.

New civil remedies were added, allowing courts to award damages, order content removal, and prohibit defendants from using digital impersonation tools for up to three years upon repeat violations.

TECHNICAL

The official title of the act was changed from the 'e-impersonation prevention act' to the 'Barakett digital safety act'.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 15, 2026

Upper · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 3990A

upper

Jun 15, 2026

Upper · Passed

AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO CODES

upper

Jan 7, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

upper

Jan 31, 2025

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors