ABSTRACT
This Article explores how US 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 US tort law. The article advances an integrated governance model for US tort law: reconstructing personality-based torts, repositioning tort law through conditional intermediary liability, and clarifying constitutionally grounded limits for speechbased claims. Drawing on Chinese and Singaporean legal approaches, the Article sets out a comparative reform framework that enables US tort law to better address deepfake harms while safeguarding autonomy and dignity in AI-driven digital environments.
Peng, Huijuan and Lee, Pey Woan, Reimagining US Tort Law for Deepfake Harms: Comparative Insights from China and Singapore (September 29, 2025), Journal of Tort Law [10.1515/jtl-2025-0028].
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