You Can’t Libel The Dead—But Don’t Deepfake Them

You Can’t Libel The Dead—But Don’t Deepfake Them

You Can’t Libel The Dead. But That Doesn’t Mean You Should Deepfake Them. Zelda Williams has a message that hits harder than any viral clip: you can’t libel the dead, but that doesn’t mean you should deepfake them. Image Credits:Curly_photo / Getty Images The daughter of the late Robin Williams took to Instagram with a heartfelt plea to fans: “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad. Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand. I don’t and I won’t,” she wrote. “If you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop.” Her frustration comes right after OpenAI’s launch of Sora 2 , a video model capable of generating stunningly realistic deepfakes. The new Sora social app allows users to create AI-generated clips of themselves, friends, or even long-deceased icons—raising serious ethical questions about consent and legacy. The Legal Gray Area: You Can’t Libel The Dead According to the Student Press Law Center , defamation laws don’t protect th…