| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT SYNTHETIC MEDIA IN |
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| 16 | 16 | | ELECTION COMMUNICATI ONS |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Representative Jacquelyn M. Baginski |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: February 28, 2025 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: House State Government & Elections |
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| 20 | 20 | | (Secretary of State) |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Title 17 of the General Laws entitled "ELECTIONS" is hereby amended by 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | adding thereto the following chapter: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | CHAPTER 30 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | DECEPTIVE AND FRAUDULENT SYNTHETIC MEDIA IN ELECTION 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | COMMUNICATIONS 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | 17-30-1. Deceptive synthetic media. 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a) For purposes of this chapter, “candidate” means and includes an incumbent or current 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | office holder. 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) For purposes of this chapter, “synthetic media” means an image, an audio recording, or 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | a video recording of an individual’s appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | manipulated with the use of generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | to create a realistic but false image, audio, or video that produces: 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) A depiction that, to a reasonable individual, appears to be a real individual in terms of 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | appearance, action, or speech, but that did not occur in reality; and 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) A fundamentally different understanding or impression of the appearance, action, or 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | speech than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio 16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | recording, or video recording. 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (c) A candidate, authorized candidate campaign committee, political action committee, 18 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | political party committee, or person or entity making an independent expenditure as defined in § 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17-25-3 shall not, within ninety (90) days of any election at which a candidate for elective office 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | will appear on a ballot, distribute synthetic media that the candidate, authorized candidate campaign 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | committee, political action committee, political party committee, or person or entity making an 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | independent expenditure as defined in § 17-25-3 knows or should know is deceptive and fraudulent 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | synthetic media, as defined in subsection (b) of this section. 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (d)(1) The prohibition in subsection (c) of this section does not apply if the image, audio 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | recording, or video recording includes a disclosure stating that the image has been manipulated or 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | generated by artificial intelligence. 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (2) For visual media, the text of the disclosure shall appear in a size that is easily readable 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | by the average viewer, and no smaller than the largest font size of any other text appearing in the 11 |
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| 55 | 55 | | visual media. If the visual media does not include any other text, the disclosure shall appear in a 12 |
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| 56 | 56 | | size that is easily readable by the average viewer. For visual media that is a video, the disclosure 13 |
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| 57 | 57 | | shall appear for the duration of the video. 14 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (3) If the media consists of audio only, and no visual disclosure is feasible, the disclosure 15 |
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| 59 | 59 | | shall be read in a clearly spoken manner, and in a speed and pitch that can be easily heard by the 16 |
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| 60 | 60 | | average listener, at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the audio, and, if the audio is greater 17 |
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| 61 | 61 | | than two (2) minutes in length, interspersed within the audio at intervals of not greater than two (2) 18 |
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| 62 | 62 | | minutes. 19 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 17-30-2. Right of action. 20 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (a) A candidate whose appearance, actions, or speech are depicted through the use of 21 |
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| 65 | 65 | | synthetic media in violation of § 17-30-1 may seek injunctive or other equitable relief from a 22 |
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| 66 | 66 | | candidate, authorized candidate campaign committee, political action committee, political party 23 |
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| 67 | 67 | | committee, or person or entity making an independent expenditure as defined in § 17-25-3 24 |
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| 68 | 68 | | prohibiting the distribution of audio or visual synthetic media in violation of this chapter. 25 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (b) A candidate whose appearance, actions, or speech are depicted using synthetic media 26 |
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| 70 | 70 | | may also bring an action for general or special damages against a candidate, authorized candidate 27 |
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| 71 | 71 | | campaign committee, political action committee, political party committee, or person or entity 28 |
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| 72 | 72 | | making an independent expenditure as defined in § 17-25-3 that generated the synthetic media. The 29 |
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| 73 | 73 | | court may also award a prevailing party reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. This subsection shall 30 |
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| 74 | 74 | | not be construed to limit or preclude a plaintiff from recovering under any other available remedy. 31 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (c) In any civil action alleging a violation of this chapter, the plaintiff shall bear the burden 32 |
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| 76 | 76 | | of establishing the violation through clear and convincing evidence. 33 |
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| 77 | 77 | | 17-30-3. Application. 34 |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 82 | | - | (1) A radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television 2 |
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| 83 | | - | operator and their affiliates, programmer, or producer, or mobile application or streaming service 3 |
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| 84 | | - | that exhibits, distributes, or broadcasts synthetic media as prohibited by this chapter provided that 4 |
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| 85 | | - | they are not distributing synthetic media as a political action committee or entity making an 5 |
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| 86 | | - | independent expenditure as defined in § 17-25-3; 6 |
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| 87 | | - | (2) An Internet website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 7 |
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| 88 | | - | of general circulation, including an Internet or electronic publication, that routinely carries news 8 |
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| 89 | | - | and commentary of general interest, and that publishes synthetic media as prohibited by this 9 |
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| 90 | | - | chapter, if the publication clearly states that the synthetic media does not accurately represent the 10 |
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| 91 | | - | speech or conduct of the candidate; 11 |
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| 92 | | - | (3) Synthetic media that constitutes satire or parody; or 12 |
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| 93 | | - | (4) An interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230. 13 |
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| 94 | | - | (b) The provisions of this chapter shall not restrict the ability of a person to detect, prevent, 14 |
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| 95 | | - | respond to, or protect against security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or 15 |
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| 96 | | - | deceptive activities, or any illegal activity, or preserve the integrity or security of systems or 16 |
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| 97 | | - | investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible for any such action. 17 |
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| 98 | | - | 17-30-4. Severability. 18 |
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| 99 | | - | The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its 19 |
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| 100 | | - | application is held to be invalid, such holding shall not affect other provisions or applications that 20 |
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| 101 | | - | can be given effect without the invalid provision. 21 |
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| 102 | | - | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 22 |
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| 82 | + | (1) A radio or television broadcasting station, including cable or satellite television 2 |
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| 83 | + | operator, programmer, or producer, that broadcasts synthetic media as prohibited by this chapter as 3 |
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| 84 | + | part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of bona 4 |
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| 85 | + | fide news events, if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure, in a manner 5 |
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| 86 | + | that can be easily heard or read by the average listener or viewer, that the authenticity of the 6 |
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| 87 | + | synthetic media is questionable; 7 |
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| 88 | + | (2) A radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television 8 |
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| 89 | + | operator, programmer, or producer, provided it is paid to broadcast synthetic media and has no 9 |
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| 90 | + | actual knowledge that the depiction is synthetic media; 10 |
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| 91 | + | (3) An Internet website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 11 |
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| 92 | + | of general circulation, including an Internet or electronic publication, that routinely carries news 12 |
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| 93 | + | and commentary of general interest, and that publishes synthetic media as prohibited by this 13 |
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| 94 | + | chapter, if the publication clearly states that the synthetic media does not accurately represent the 14 |
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| 95 | + | speech or conduct of the candidate; 15 |
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| 96 | + | (4) Synthetic media that constitutes satire or parody; or 16 |
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| 97 | + | (5) An interactive computer service as defined in 47 USC 230. 17 |
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| 98 | + | (b) The provisions of this chapter shall not restrict the ability of a person to detect, prevent, 18 |
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| 99 | + | respond to, or protect against security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or 19 |
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| 100 | + | deceptive activities, or any illegal activity, preserve the integrity or security of systems or 20 |
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| 101 | + | investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible for any such action. 21 |
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| 102 | + | 17-30-4. Severability. 22 |
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| 103 | + | The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its 23 |
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| 104 | + | application is held to be invalid, such holding shall not affect other provisions or applications that 24 |
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| 105 | + | can be given effect without the invalid provision. 25 |
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| 106 | + | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 26 |
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