Session of 2024
HOUSE BILL No. 2559
By Representatives Proctor and V. Miller
1-22
AN ACT concerning elections; relating to the crime of corrupt political
advertising; prohibiting the use of generative artificial intelligence to
create false representations of candidates in campaign media or of state
officials; amending K.S.A. 25-2407 and 25-4156 and repealing the
existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 25-2407 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25-
2407. (a) Corrupt political advertising is:
(a) (1)(1) (A) Publishing or causing to be published in a newspaper or
other periodical any paid matter which expressly advocates the
nomination, election or defeat of any candidate, unless such matter is
followed by the word "advertisement" or the abbreviation "adv." in a
separate line together with the name of the chairman of the political or
other organization inserting the same or the name of the person who is
responsible therefor; or
(2)(B) broadcasting or causing to be broadcast by any radio or
television station any paid matter which expressly advocates the
nomination, election or defeat of any candidate, unless such matter is
followed by a statement which states: "Paid for" or "Sponsored by"
followed by the name of the sponsoring organization and the name of the
chairperson or treasurer of the political or other organization sponsoring
the same or the name of the person who is responsible therefor; or
(3)(C) publishing or causing to be published in a newspaper or other
periodical any paid matter which is intended to influence the vote of any
person or persons for or against any question submitted for a proposition
to amend the constitution or to authorize the issuance of bonds or any
other question submitted at an election, unless such matter is followed by
the word "advertisement" or the abbreviation "adv." in a separate line
together with the name of the chairman of the political or other
organization inserting the same or the name of the person who is
responsible therefor;
(4)(D) broadcasting or causing to be broadcast by any radio or
television station any paid matter which is intended to influence the vote
of any person or persons for or against any question submitted for a
proposition to amend the constitution or to authorize the issuance of bonds
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or any other question submitted at an election, unless such matter is
followed by a statement which states: "Paid for" or "Sponsored by"
followed by the name of the sponsoring organization and the name of the
chairperson or treasurer of the political or other organization sponsoring
the same or the name of the person who is responsible therefor; or
(5)(E) publishing or causing to be published any brochure, flier or
other political fact sheet which is intended to influence the vote of any
person or persons for or against any question submitted for a proposition
to amend the constitution or to authorize the issuance of bonds or any
other question submitted at an election, unless such matter is followed by a
statement which states: "Paid for" or "Sponsored by" followed by the
name of the sponsoring organization and the name of the chairperson or
treasurer of the political or other organization sponsoring the same or the
name of the individual who is responsible therefor; or
(2) (A) using synthetic media in any election campaign
communication through any medium to alter the appearance, action or
speech of a candidate; or
(B) using synthetic media in any communication through any medium
to alter the appearance, action or speech of an elected or appointed state
official.
(b) Corrupt political advertising is a class C misdemeanor.
(c) It is an affirmative defense that the communication containing
synthetic media includes a disclosure stating: "This (image/video/audio)
has been manipulated." Such disclosure shall be expressed as follows:
(1) For visual media, the text of the disclosure shall appear in a font
size that is easily readable by the average viewer and not smaller than the
largest font size of other text appearing in the visual media. If the visual
media does not include any other text, the disclosure shall appear in a font
size that is easily readable by the average viewer. For visual media that is
a video, the disclosure shall appear for the duration of the video; or
(2) if the media consists of audio only, the disclosure shall be read in
a clearly spoken manner and in a pitch that can be easily heard by the
average listener and stated at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the
audio and, if the audio is longer than two minutes, interspersed within the
audio at intervals of not more than two minutes each.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term:
(1) "Expressly advocate the nomination, election or defeat of a
candidate" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in K.S.A. 25-4143, and
amendments thereto; and
(2) "synthetic media" means an image, an audio recording or a video
recording of an individual's appearance, speech or conduct that has been
intentionally manipulated with the use of generative artificial intelligence
techniques or other digital technology in a manner that creates a realistic
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but false or inaccurate image, audio or video that produces:
(A) A depiction, that to a reasonable individual, is of a real individual
in appearance, action or speech but that did not actually occur in reality;
and
(B) a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the
appearance, action or speech than a reasonable person would otherwise
have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording or
video recording.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 25-4156 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25-
4156. (a) (1) Whenever any person sells space in any newspaper, magazine
or other periodical to a candidate or to a candidate committee, party
committee or political committee, the charge made for the use of such
space shall not exceed the charges made for comparable use of such space
for other purposes.
(2) Intentionally charging an excessive amount for political
advertising is a class A misdemeanor.
(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), corrupt political
advertising of a state or local office is:
(A) Publishing or causing to be published in a newspaper or other
periodical any paid matter that expressly advocates the nomination,
election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a state or local
office, unless such matter is followed by the word "advertisement" or the
abbreviation "adv." in a separate line together with the name of the
chairperson or treasurer of the political or other organization sponsoring
the same or the name of the individual who is responsible therefor;
(B) broadcasting or causing to be broadcast by any radio or television
station any paid matter that expressly advocates the nomination, election
or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a state or local office, unless
such matter is followed by a statement that states: "Paid for" or
"Sponsored by" followed by the name of the sponsoring organization and
the name of the chairperson or treasurer of the political or other
organization sponsoring the same or the name of the individual who is
responsible therefor;
(C) telephoning or causing to be contacted by any telephonic means
including, but not limited to, any device using a voice over internet
protocol or wireless telephone, any paid matter that expressly advocates
the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a
state or local office, unless such matter is preceded by a statement that
states: "Paid for" or "Sponsored by" followed by the name of the
sponsoring organization and the name of the chairperson or treasurer of the
political or other organization sponsoring the same or the name of the
individual who is responsible therefor;
(D) publishing or causing to be published any brochure, flier or other
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political fact sheet that expressly advocates the nomination, election or
defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a state or local office, unless
such matter is followed by a statement that states: "Paid for" or
"Sponsored by" followed by the name of the chairperson or treasurer of the
political or other organization sponsoring the same or the name of the
individual who is responsible therefor.
The provisions of this subparagraph (D) requiring the disclosure of the
name of an individual shall not apply to individuals making expenditures
in an aggregate amount of less than $2,500 within a calendar year; or
(E) making or causing to be made any website, e-mail or other type of
internet communication that expressly advocates the nomination, election
or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a state or local office, unless
the matter is followed by a statement that states: "Paid for" or "Sponsored
by" followed by the name of the chairperson or treasurer of the political or
other organization sponsoring the same or the name of the individual who
is responsible therefor.
The provisions of this subparagraph (E) requiring the disclosure of the
name of an individual shall apply only to any website, email or other type
of internet communication that is made by the candidate, the candidate's
candidate committee, a political committee or a party committee and the
website, email or other internet communication viewed by or disseminated
to at least 25 individuals. For the purposes of this subparagraph, the terms
"candidate," "candidate committee," "party committee" and "political
committee" shall have the meanings ascribed to them in K.S.A. 25-4143,
and amendments thereto; or
(F) using synthetic media in any election campaign communication
through any medium to alter the appearance, action or speech of a
candidate.
(2) The provisions of subsections (b)(1)(C) and (E) shall not apply to
the publication of any communication that expressly advocates the
nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for state or
local office, if such communication is made over any social media
provider which has a character limit of 280 characters or fewer.
(3) Corrupt political advertising of a state or local office is a class C
misdemeanor.
(c) It is an affirmative defense that the election campaign
communication containing synthetic media includes a disclosure stating:
"This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated." Such disclosure shall
be expressed as follows:
(1) For visual media, the text of the disclosure shall appear in a font
size that is easily readable by the average viewer and not smaller than the
largest font size of other text appearing in the visual media. If the visual
media does not include any other text, the disclosure shall appear in a font
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size that is easily readable by the average viewer. For visual media that is
a video, the disclosure shall appear for the duration of the video; or
(2) if the media consists of audio only, the disclosure shall be read in
a clearly spoken manner and in a pitch that can be easily heard by the
average listener and stated at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the
audio and, if the audio is longer than two minutes, interspersed within the
audio at intervals of not more than two minutes each.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "synthetic media" means an
image, an audio recording or a video recording of an individual's
appearance, speech or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated
with the use of generative artificial intelligence techniques or other digital
technology in a manner that creates a realistic but false or inaccurate
image, audio or video that produces:
(1) A depiction, that to a reasonable individual, is of a real individual
in appearance, action or speech but that did not actually occur in reality;
and
(2) a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the
appearance, action or speech than a reasonable person would otherwise
have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording or
video recording.
(e) If any provision of this section or application thereof to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity does not affect other
provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect without
the invalid application or provision, and to this end the provisions of this
section are declared to be severable.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 25-2407 and 25-4156 are hereby repealed.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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