Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S2730 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2932 FILED ON: 1/4/2024
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2730
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Barry R. Finegold
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to deceptive and fraudulent deepfakes in election communications.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Barry R. FinegoldSecond Essex and MiddlesexFrank A. Moran17th Essex4/12/2024 1 of 4
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2932 FILED ON: 1/4/2024
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2730
18	18	By Mr. Finegold, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2730) (subject to Joint Rule 12) of
19	19	Barry R. Finegold and Frank A. Moran for legislation relative to deceptive and fraudulent
20	20	deepfakes in election communications. Election Laws.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to deceptive and fraudulent deepfakes in election communications.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 56 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
30	30	2is hereby amended by inserting after section 39 the following new section:-
31	31	3 Section 39A. Synthetic Media in Election Communications
32	32	4 (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless
33	33	5the context clearly requires otherwise:
34	34	6 “Candidate” and “political committee” shall have the same meanings as such terms are
35	35	7defined in section 1 of chapter 55 of the General Laws.
36	36	8 “Deceptive or fraudulent deepfake”, synthetic media that depicts a candidate or political
37	37	9party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or party or otherwise deceive a
38	38	10voter and that: (i) appears to a reasonable person to depict a real individual saying or doing
39	39	11something that that individual did not say or do; or (ii) provides a reasonable person a 2 of 4
40	40	12fundamentally different understanding or impression of the appearance, action or speech than a
41	41	13reasonable person would have from an unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording
42	42	14or video recording.
43	43	15 “Person”, an individual, corporation, political committee, association, operation, firm,
44	44	16partnership, trust or other form of business or personal association.
45	45	17 “Political party” shall have the meaning as defined in section 1 of chapter 50 of the
46	46	18General Laws.
47	47	19 “Synthetic media”, an image, audio recording or video recording of an individual’s
48	48	20appearance, speech or conduct that has been created or intentionally manipulated with the use of
49	49	21generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology in a manner to create a
50	50	22realistic but false image, audio or video.
51	51	23 (b)(1) A person shall not distribute a synthetic media message that the person knows or
52	52	24reasonably should have known is a deceptive or fraudulent deepfake depicting a candidate or
53	53	25political party within 90 days of an election in which said candidate or political party will appear
54	54	26on the state or local ballot; provided, however, that this section shall not apply if the following
55	55	27statement is made in the form provided herein by the distributing person: ''This _____ (image,
56	56	28video, or audio) has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.''
57	57	29 (2) The following requirements shall apply to the conveyance of such statement based on
58	58	30the medium of the message:
59	59	31 (i) If said synthetic media message includes an image or video recording, said statement
60	60	32shall appear as text in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable degree of color contrast 3 of 4
61	61	33between the background and the statement; provided, however, that said text shall be no smaller
62	62	34than the largest font size of any other text appearing in said image or video recording, if any; and
63	63	35provided further, that any such statement shall appear for the full duration of the video if the
64	64	36synthetic media message consists of a video recording.
65	65	37 (ii) If said synthetic media message consists only of an audio recording, said statement
66	66	38shall be read in a clearly-spoken manner with a reasonable pitch at the beginning of the audio, at
67	67	39the end of the audio and, if the audio is greater than 2 minutes in length, interspersed within the
68	68	40audio at intervals of not greater than 2 minutes each.
69	69	41 (c) A candidate whose appearance, action or speech is depicted through the use of a
70	70	42deceptive or fraudulent deepfake in violation of this section may institute a civil action for: (i)
71	71	43special or general damages not to exceed $10,000 per incident; (ii) injunctive or declaratory
72	72	44relief; or (iii) any other relief the court deems proper; provided, however, that such civil action
73	73	45shall not limit or preclude a plaintiff from securing or recovering any other available remedy;
74	74	46and provided further, that the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the
75	75	47prevailing party.
76	76	48 (d) This section shall not apply to:
77	77	49 (i) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television
78	78	50operator, programmer or producer that broadcasts a deceptive or fraudulent deepfake in violation
79	79	51of this section as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary or live
80	80	52coverage of bona fide news events, provided that the broadcast clearly acknowledges through
81	81	53verbal or text disclosure which is reasonably understandable to the average viewer or listener that
82	82	54the authenticity of the synthetic media is in question; 4 of 4
83	83	55 (ii) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television
84	84	56operator, programmer or producer that has been paid to broadcast such deceptive or fraudulent
85	85	57deepfake, provided that such radio or television broadcasting station has made a good faith effort
86	86	58to establish that the depiction is not a deceptive or fraudulent deepfake;
87	87	59 (iii) an internet website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine or other periodical
88	88	60of general circulation, including an internet or electronic publication, which routinely carries
89	89	61news and commentary of general interest and that publishes a deceptive or fraudulent deepfake
90	90	62in violation of this section, provided that the publication clearly states, in a manner at least as
91	91	63prominent as the synthetic media itself, that said synthetic media does not accurately represent
92	92	64the speech or conduct of the candidate; or
93	93	65 (iv) synthetic media that constitutes satire or parody.
94	94	66 SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its passage.