Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB740 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0740
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 740
8	8	G1 5lr2924
9	9	HB 872/24 – W&M
10	10	By: Delegates Kaiser, Guyton, McComas, Palakovich Carr, Pena–Melnyk, Ruth,
11	11	Schindler, Taveras, Terrasa, Tomlinson, and Turner
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 27, 2025
13	13	Assigned to: Ways and Means
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Election Law – Campaign Materials – Disclosure of Use of Synthetic Media 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring certain persons that publish, distribute, or disseminate, or 3
22	22	cause to be published, distributed, or disseminated, to another person in the State 4
23	23	certain campaign materials that use or contain synthetic media to include a certain 5
24	24	disclosure in a certain manner; and generally relating to disclosure of the use of 6
25	25	synthetic media in campaign materials. 7
26	26
27	27	BY adding to 8
28	28	Article – Election Law 9
29	29	Section 13–401.2 10
30	30	Annotated Code of Maryland 11
31	31	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 12
32	32
33	33	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 13
34	34	Article – Election Law 14
35	35	Section 13–602 15
36	36	Annotated Code of Maryland 16
37	37	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 17
38	38
39	39	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 18
40	40	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 19
41	41
42	42	Article – Election Law 20
43	43
44	44	13–401.2. 21
45	45
46	46	(A) IN THIS SECTION , “SYNTHETIC MEDIA ” MEANS AN IMAGE , AN AUDIO 22
47	47	RECORDING, OR A VIDEO RECORDING THAT HAS BEEN INTENT IONALLY 23 2 HOUSE BILL 740
48	48
49	49
50	50	MANIPULATED WITH THE USE OF GENERATIVE AR TIFICIAL INTELLIGENC E OR 1
51	51	OTHER DIGITAL TECHNO LOGY TO CREATE A REA LISTIC BUT FALSE IMA GE, AUDIO 2
52	52	RECORDING, OR VIDEO RECORDING T HAT: 3
53	53
54	54	(1) DEPICTS A REAL INDIV IDUAL, THE INDIVIDUAL ’S SPEECH, OR THE 4
55	55	INDIVIDUAL’S CONDUCT; OR 5
56	56
57	57	(2) PRODUCES A FUNDAMENT ALLY DIFFERENT UNDER STANDING OR 6
58	58	IMPRESSION OF AN IND IVIDUAL’S APPEARANCE , SPEECH, OR CONDUCT THAN A 7
59	59	REASONABLE INDIVIDUA L WOULD HAVE FROM TH E UNALTERED , ORIGINAL VERSION 8
60	60	OF THE IMAGE, AUDIO RECORDING , OR VIDEO RECORDING . 9
61	61
62	62	(B) THIS SECTION APPLIES TO A CANDIDATE, A CAMPAIGN FINANCE E NTITY, 10
63	63	A PERSON REQUIRED TO REGISTER UNDER § 13–306, § 13–307, OR § 13–309.2 OF 11
64	64	THIS TITLE, OR AN AGENT OF A CAN DIDATE, CAMPAIGN FINANCE ENT ITY, OR PERSON 12
65	65	REQUIRED TO REGISTER UNDER § 13–306, § 13–307, OR § 13–309.2 OF THIS TITLE. 13
66	66
67	67	(C) IN ADDITION TO THE RE QUIREMENTS UNDER §§ 13–401 AND 13–403 OF 14
68	68	THIS SUBTITLE , A PERSON SUBJECT TO THIS SECT ION THAT PUBLISHES , 15
69	69	DISTRIBUTES, OR DISSEMINATES , OR CAUSES TO BE PUBL ISHED, DISTRIBUTED, OR 16
70	70	DISSEMINATED , TO A PERSON IN THE STATE CAMPAIGN MATERI AL THAT IS 17
71	71	PRODUCED USING OR CO NTAINS SYNTHETIC MED IA SHALL INCLUDE THE 18
72	72	DISCLOSURE REQUIR ED UNDER SUBSECTION (D) OF THIS SECTION. 19
73	73
74	74	(D) (1) (I) FOR A STILL IMAGE, THE DISCLOSURE SHALL INCLUDE THE 20
75	75	STATEMENT “THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN A LTERED OR MODIFIED T HROUGH THE USE OF 21
76	76	COMPUTER PROGRAMS TO DISPLAY AN EVENT OR IMAGE THAT DID NOT O CCUR.”. 22
77	77
78	78	(II) THE STATEMENT REQUIRE D UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF 23
79	79	THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE WRITTEN IN A TYPE SIZE THAT IS: 24
80	80
81	81	1. EASILY READABLE BY T HE AVERAGE VIEWER ; AND 25
82	82
83	83	2. NOT SMALLER THAN THE LARGEST TYPE SIZE OF 26
84	84	OTHER TEXT APPEARING ON THE STILL IMAGE . 27
85	85
86	86	(2) (I) FOR MEDIA THAT IS ONL Y AN AUDIO RECORDING , THE 28
87	87	DISCLOSURE SHALL INC LUDE THE STATEMENT “THIS AUDIO HAS BEEN A LTERED OR 29
88	88	MODIFIED THROUGH THE USE OF COMPUTER PROG RAMS TO DISPLAY A SO UND THAT 30
89	89	DID NOT OCCUR .”. 31
90	90
91	91	(II) THE STATEMENT REQUIRE D UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF 32
92	92	THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE READ: 33 HOUSE BILL 740 3
93	93
94	94
95	95
96	96	1. IN A CLEARLY SPOKEN MANNER AT A PITCH AN D 1
97	97	SPEED THAT CAN EASIL Y BE HEARD BY THE AV ERAGE LISTENER ; AND 2
98	98
99	99	2. A. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE AUDIO RECORDING ; 3
100	100
101	101	B. AT THE END OF THE AU DIO RECORDING ; AND 4
102	102
103	103	C. FOR AUDIO RECORDINGS OF 2 MINUTES DURATION OR 5
104	104	LONGER, INTERSPERSED THROUGH OUT AT INTERVALS OF NOT MORE THAN 2 6
105	105	MINUTES. 7
106	106
107	107	(3) (I) FOR A VIDEO RECORDING , THE DISCLOSURE SHALL 8
108	108	INCLUDE THE STATEMEN T “THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN A LTERED OR MODIFIED 9
109	109	THROUGH THE USE OF C OMPUTER PROGRAMS TO DISPLAY AN EVENT , A SOUND, OR 10
110	110	AN IMAGE THAT DID NO T OCCUR.”. 11
111	111
112	112	(II) THE STATEMENT REQUIRE D UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF 12
113	113	THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE WRITTEN IN: 13
114	114
115	115	1. TEXT THAT REMAINS VI SIBLE TO THE VIEWER FOR 14
116	116	THE DURATION OF THE VIDEO RECORDING; AND 15
117	117
118	118	2. A TYPE SIZE THAT IS EASILY READABLE TO T HE 16
119	119	AVERAGE VIEWER AND P LACED IN A CONSPICUO US LOCATION IN THE F RAME OF THE 17
120	120	VIDEO. 18
121	121
122	122	13–602. 19
123	123
124	124	(a) (1) A person may not directly or indirectly give, offer, or promise money, 20
125	125	aid, a gift, an advantage, a preferment, an emolument, or any other valuable thing to 21
126	126	another person for the purpose of inducing or procuring that person to vote or refrain from 22
127	127	voting for or against: 23
128	128
129	129	(i) an individual, question, or measure at an election or political 24
130	130	convention; or 25
131	131
132	132	(ii) the election of an officer by the General Assembly. 26
133	133
134	134	(2) A person may not directly or indirectly receive, accept, request, or solicit 27
135	135	money, aid, a gift, an advantage, a preferment, an emolument, or any other valuable thing 28
136	136	from another person for the purpose of inducing or procuring a third person to vote or 29
137	137	refrain from voting for or against an individual, question, or measure at an election or 30
138	138	political convention. 31
139	139	4 HOUSE BILL 740
140	140
141	141
142	142	(3) A person may not vote or refrain from voting for or against an 1
143	143	individual, question, or measure at an election or a political convention, in consideration of 2
144	144	money, aid, a gift, an advantage, a preferment, an emolument, or any other valuable thing 3
145	145	paid, received, accepted, or promised to the advantage of that person or of another person. 4
146	146
147	147	(4) (i) A person, to defray the costs of a campaign finance entity, may 5
148	148	not directly or indirectly pay, give, or promise money or any other valuable thing to any 6
149	149	person other than a campaign finance entity. 7
150	150
151	151	(ii) Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph does not apply to: 8
152	152
153	153	1. dues regularly paid for membership in a political club if all 9
154	154	of the money that is spent by that political club in connection with any campaign finance 10
155	155	activity is paid through a treasurer as provided in this title; 11
156	156
157	157	2. an individual volunteering the individual’s time or 12
158	158	personal vehicle in accordance with § 13–232 of this title; 13
159	159
160	160	3. an employer’s accumulation of employee contributions in 14
161	161	accordance with § 13–242 of this title; or 15
162	162
163	163	4. advertising costs or other expenses incident to the 16
164	164	expression of personal views in accordance with § 13–102 of this title. 17
165	165
166	166	(5) A person may not directly or indirectly pay or promise to pay a 18
167	167	campaign finance entity in a name other than the person’s name. 19
168	168
169	169	(6) A responsible officer of a campaign finance entity may not knowingly 20
170	170	receive a payment or promise of payment and enter it or cause it to be entered in an account 21
171	171	book in a name that the responsible officer knows is not the name of the person that made 22
172	172	the payment or the promise to pay. 23
173	173
174	174	(7) An employer who pays employees in envelopes may not mark on or 24
175	175	enclose in the envelopes a political motto, device, or argument that contains express or 25
176	176	implied threats intended to influence the political opinions or actions of those employees. 26
177	177
178	178	(8) During the 90 days before an election, an employer may not exhibit in 27
179	179	the employer’s workplace: 28
180	180
181	181	(i) a threat, a notice, or information that, on the election or defeat 29
182	182	of a particular ticket or candidate: 30
183	183
184	184	1. work will cease, wholly or partly; 31
185	185
186	186	2. the workplace will close; or 32
187	187
188	188	3. employees’ wages will be reduced; or 33 HOUSE BILL 740 5
189	189
190	190
191	191
192	192	(ii) any other threat, expressed or implied, intended to influence the 1
193	193	political opinions or actions of the employer’s employees. 2
194	194
195	195	(9) A person may not: 3
196	196
197	197	(i) publish or distribute, or cause to be published or distributed, 4
198	198	campaign material that violates § 13–401 of this title; [or] 5
199	199
200	200	(ii) publish, distribute, or disseminate, or cause to be published, 6
201	201	distributed, or disseminated, campaign material that violates § 13–401.1 of this title; OR 7
202	202
203	203	(III) PUBLISH, DISTRIBUTE, OR DISSEMINATE , OR CAUSE TO BE 8
204	204	PUBLISHED, DISTRIBUTED, OR DISSEMINATED , CAMPAIGN MATERIAL TH AT 9
205	205	VIOLATES § 13–401.2 OF THIS TITLE. 10
206	206
207	207	(10) A candidate may not make a payment, contribution, or expenditure, or 11
208	208	incur a liability to pay, contribute, or expend, from the candidate’s personal funds any 12
209	209	money or valuable thing in a manner not authorized by § 13–230 of this title. 13
210	210
211	211	(11) An individual may not sign the name of any other individual on any 14
212	212	form or other document under this title, without the authority of the individual whose name 15
213	213	is signed. 16
214	214
215	215	(b) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction 17
216	216	is: 18
217	217
218	218	(1) subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 1 19
219	219	year or both; and 20
220	220
221	221	(2) ineligible to hold any public or party office for 4 years after the date of 21
222	222	the offense. 22
223	223
224	224	(c) (1) The State Prosecutor may prosecute, in any jurisdiction of the State, a 23
225	225	person that the State Prosecutor believes to be guilty of a willful violation of this section. 24
226	226
227	227	(2) A State’s Attorney may prosecute a person that the State’s Attorney 25
228	228	believes to be guilty of a willful violation of this section in the county in which the State’s 26
229	229	Attorney serves. 27
230	230
231	231	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 28
232	232	October 1, 2025. 29