Summary.
The bill adds Article 195-A to the Criminal Code (Código Penal) of the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá). The proposed provision penalizes anyone who, using artificial intelligence, audiovisual editing, voice cloning, image manipulation or analogous technology, creates, alters, produces, publishes, disseminates, markets, distributes or makes available to third parties manipulated or generated digital content that appears authentic. Without the person's consent, that content must reproduce or simulate a real person's image, face, voice, gestures, physical appearance or other identifiable attributes and be capable of harming that person's honor or personal dignity. The provision concerns content other than intimate, sexual or nude material and sets a prison term of three to six years.
The proposed article raises the prison term to five to seven years if any listed circumstance applies. One concerns dissemination through social media, digital platforms, mass messaging systems or another medium that permits public circulation. Another concerns conduct undertaken for profit, undue advantage, retaliation, intimidation, coercion or discrimination. The third concerns the victim's status: being family, a minor, a person with a disability, an older adult or a person in a vulnerable condition. These circumstances address, respectively, the means of dissemination, the purpose of the conduct and the person affected.
The same article excludes the creation or dissemination of artistic, educational, journalistic, academic, scientific or public interest content from the offense when, assessed in context, it has no denigrating purpose and can reasonably be identified as fictional, dramatized, recreated, edited or inauthentic. The exclusion calls for consideration of the content's context and whether it is identifiable as a representation that is not authentic.
The bill then amends Article 196 of the Criminal Code. For offenses against honor, it provides that a public retraction accepted by the injured party excludes criminal liability. For conduct described in the preceding article, it provides that no criminal penalty is imposed when the alleged injured parties are public officials covered by Article 304 of the Political Constitution (Constitución Política), popularly elected officials or governors; civil liability arising from the act remains possible. That exemption would not apply if the author attributes a false act to a public official while knowing it to be false, intending to harm the official's honor, and publicly disseminates the allegation through social media or digital platforms.
Article 3 identifies the addition and amendment to the Criminal Code, while Article 4 provides for entry into force upon promulgation in the Official Gazette. In subject matter, the bill relates to Panama's criminal justice administration and could concern people whose image or voice is used digitally, public officials, news media, and operators of social media and digital platforms.
What it proposes.
- Manipulated or generated digital content simulating a real person's attributes.
- Offenses against honor and prison terms.
- Retraction, exemption from criminal liability and civil liability.
Who it would affect.
- People who create, alter or circulate the described content.
- Real people whose identifiable attributes are reproduced or simulated.
- Public officials covered by the proposed rule on offenses against honor.
Key points.
- The bill adds Article 195-A to the Criminal Code to address apparently authentic manipulated or generated digital content made without consent and capable of harming a real person's honor or dignity.Art. 1
- The described conduct, where the material is not intimate, sexual or nude content, would carry a prison term of three to six years.Art. 1
- The prison term would be five to seven years if a listed circumstance concerning public circulation, the conduct's purpose or the victim's status applies.Art. 1
- The creation or dissemination of artistic, educational, journalistic, academic, scientific or public interest content would be excluded from the offense under the stated conditions concerning context and identification.Art. 1
- A public retraction accepted by the injured party would exclude criminal liability for offenses against honor.Art. 2
- The rule withholding a criminal penalty for certain conduct concerning public officials, popularly elected officials or governors would preserve civil liability, subject to an exception for knowingly false allegations publicly disseminated with intent to harm honor.Art. 2
- The bill identifies the addition and amendment to the Criminal Code and provides for entry into force upon promulgation in the Official Gazette.Arts. 3-4