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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6846
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 3775
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DECEPTIVE
SYNTHETIC MEDIA AND ELECTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that (A) 2
can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, 3
recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, 4
and (B) uses machine and human-based inputs to (i) perceive real and 5
virtual environments, (ii) abstract such perceptions into models through 6
analysis in an automated manner, and (iii) formulate options for 7
information or action through model inference; 8
(2) "Candidate" means any individual who seeks nomination for 9
election, or election, to public office whether or not such individual is 10
elected; 11
(3) "Deceptive synthetic media" means any image, audio or video of 12
an individual, and any representation of such individual's appearance, 13
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speech or conduct that is substantially derived from any such image, 14
audio or video, which (A) a reasonable person would believe depicts the 15
appearance, speech or conduct of such individual when such individual 16
did not in fact appear as depicted or engage in such speech or conduct, 17
and (B) was generated, in whole or in part, through the use of artificial 18
intelligence or other means; 19
(4) "Election" has the same meaning as provided in section 9-1 of the 20
general statutes; 21
(5) "Individual" means a human being; 22
(6) "Person" has the same meaning as provided in section 9-601 of the 23
general statutes; and 24
(7) "Primary" has the same meaning as provided in section 9-372 of 25
the general statutes. 26
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, no person shall 27
distribute, or enter into any agreement to distribute, a communication 28
containing any image, audio or video of an individual during the 29
ninety-day period preceding any election or primary if: 30
(1) Such person knows or should reasonably know that such image, 31
audio or video is deceptive synthetic media; 32
(2) The communication containing such deceptive synthetic media is 33
distributed without the consent of such individual; and 34
(3) Such distribution is intended to injure a candidate or influence the 35
result of such election or primary. 36
(c) A person may distribute, or enter into an agreement to distribute, 37
a communication containing deceptive synthetic media during the 38
ninety-day period preceding a primary or election if: 39
(1) For such deceptive synthetic media that: 40
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(A) Is an image or consists only of an image, (i) a disclaimer stating 41
"This communication contains an image that has been manipulated" or 42
"This image has been manipulated", as applicable, appears in text that is 43
clearly visible to and easily readable by the average viewer and is not 44
smaller than the largest font size of any other text appearing in such 45
communication, and (ii) in the case of any such image that was 46
generated by editing or manipulating an existing image, a citation 47
directing such viewer to the original source from which the unedited or 48
unmanipulated version of such existing image was obtained; 49
(B) Consists only of audio, (i) a disclaimer stating "This 50
communication contains audio that has been manipulated" is read in a 51
clearly spoken manner, in a pitch that can be easily heard by the average 52
listener and in the same language as the deceptive synthetic media and 53
any other language such person should reasonably expect such listener 54
to speak or understand, and which disclaimer shall be so read at the 55
beginning of such communication, at the end of such communication 56
and, if such communication is greater than one minute in length, 57
interspersed within such communication at not less frequently than 58
thirty-second intervals, and (ii) in the case of any such audio that was 59
generated by editing or manipulating existing audio, a citation directing 60
such listener to the original source from which the unedited or 61
unmanipulated version of such existing audio was obtained; or 62
(C) Is a video, (i) a disclaimer stating "This communication contains 63
video that has been manipulated" appears in text that is clearly visible 64
to and easily readable by the average viewer, is not smaller than the 65
largest font size of any other text appearing in such communication and 66
is in the same language as the deceptive synthetic media and any other 67
language such person should reasonably expect such viewer to speak or 68
understand, and which disclaimer shall appear for the duration of such 69
communication, and (ii) in the case of any such video that was generated 70
by editing or manipulating an existing video, a citation directing such 71
viewer to the original source from which the unedited or 72
unmanipulated version of such existing video was obtained; or 73
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(2) Such person is: 74
(A) A radio station or television station, whether broadcast, cable or 75
satellite and including, but not limited to, any producer or programmer 76
or any certified competitive video service provider, community antenna 77
television company, holder of a certificate of cable franchise authority 78
or holder of a certificate of video franchise authority, as those terms are 79
defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, that (i) broadcasts such 80
communication containing deceptive synthetic media as part of a bona 81
fide newscast, news interview, news documentary or other on-the-spot 82
coverage of bona fide news events, (ii) (I) retains the disclaimer upon 83
such communication required under subdivision (1) of this subsection, 84
or (II) except in the case of any such on-the-spot coverage, adds such a 85
disclaimer at the time of such broadcast if such communication did not 86
previously include such a disclaimer, and (iii) except in the case of any 87
such on-the-spot coverage for which such person does not have reason 88
to believe that such communication contains deceptive synthetic media, 89
clearly states in the content of such broadcast that such communication 90
contains deceptive synthetic media; or 91
(B) An Internet web site or regularly published newspaper, magazine 92
or other periodical of general circulation, including, but not limited to, 93
any regularly published periodical of general circulation that is 94
published electronically or on the Internet, that (i) publishes such 95
communication containing deceptive synthetic media as part of such 96
person's routine carriage of news and commentary of general interest, 97
(ii) (I) retains the disclaimer upon such communication required under 98
subdivision (1) of this subsection, or (II) adds such a disclaimer at the 99
time of such publication if such communication did not previously 100
include such a disclaimer, and (iii) clearly states in the content of such 101
publication that such communication contains deceptive synthetic 102
media. 103
(d) (1) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be 104
guilty of a class C misdemeanor, except that: 105
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(A) If such violation was committed with the intent to cause violence 106
or bodily harm, or to distribute deceptive synthetic media to an 107
audience and such audience exceeds ten thousand individuals, such 108
person shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor; and 109
(B) If such violation was committed less than five years after a prior 110
conviction under this section, such person shall be guilty of a class D 111
felony. 112
(2) Any penalty imposed under subdivision (1) of this subsection 113
shall be in addition to any injunctive or other equitable relief or any 114
general or special damages ordered under subsection (e) of this section. 115
(e) (1) (A) The Attorney General, an individual described in 116
subsection (b) of this section, or a candidate who has been or is likely to 117
be injured by the distribution of a communication containing deceptive 118
synthetic media in violation of the provisions of this section, may 119
commence a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking to 120
permanently enjoin any person whose violation of the provisions of this 121
section is reasonably believed to be imminent, or who is in the course of 122
violating the provisions of this section, and other equitable relief. 123
(B) An individual described in subsection (b) of this section, or a 124
candidate who has been injured by the distribution of a communication 125
containing deceptive synthetic media in violation of the provisions of 126
this section, may commence a civil action in a court of competent 127
jurisdiction seeking to recover general or special damages resulting 128
from such distribution. 129
(2) In any civil action commenced under subdivision (1) of this 130
subsection, the plaintiff shall bear the burden of proving by clear and 131
convincing evidence that the defendant distributed, or will imminently 132
distribute, a communication containing deceptive synthetic media in 133
violation of the provisions of this section. 134
(3) Any party, other than the Attorney General, who prevails in a civil 135
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action commenced under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be 136
awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs to be taxed by the court. 137
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit distribution of certain deceptive synthetic media within the
ninety-day period preceding an election or primary.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]