II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1213
To prohibit the distribution of materially deceptive AI-generated audio or
visual media relating to candidates for Federal office, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH31, 2025
Ms. K
LOBUCHAR(for herself, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. COLLINS, and
Mr. B
ENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re-
ferred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
A BILL
To prohibit the distribution of materially deceptive AI-gen-
erated audio or visual media relating to candidates for
Federal office, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Elections from 4
Deceptive AI Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALLY 1
DECEPTIVE AI-GENERATED AUDIO OR VIS-2
UAL MEDIA PRIOR TO ELECTION. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 4
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 5
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 6
‘‘SEC. 325. PROHIBITION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MATERI-7
ALLY DECEPTIVE AI-GENERATED AUDIO OR 8
VISUAL MEDIA. 9
‘‘(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 10
‘‘(1) C
OVERED INDIVIDUAL .—The term ‘cov-11
ered individual’ means a candidate for Federal of-12
fice. 13
‘‘(2) D
ECEPTIVE AI-GENERATED AUDIO OR VIS -14
UAL MEDIA.—The term ‘deceptive AI-generated 15
audio or visual media’ means an image, audio, or 16
video that— 17
‘‘(A) is the product of artificial intelligence 18
technology that uses machine learning (includ-19
ing deep learning models, natural learning proc-20
essing, or any other computational processing 21
techniques of similar or greater complexity), 22
that— 23
‘‘(i) merges, combines, replaces, or su-24
perimposes content onto an image, audio, 25
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•S 1213 IS
or video, creating an image, audio, or video 1
that appears authentic; or 2
‘‘(ii) generates an inauthentic image, 3
audio, or video that appears authentic; and 4
‘‘(B) a reasonable person, having consid-5
ered the qualities of the image, audio, or video 6
and the nature of the distribution channel in 7
which the image, audio, or video appears— 8
‘‘(i) would have a fundamentally dif-9
ferent understanding or impression of the 10
appearance, speech, or expressive conduct 11
exhibited in the image, audio, or video 12
than that person would have if that person 13
were hearing or seeing the unaltered, origi-14
nal version of the image, audio, or video; 15
or 16
‘‘(ii) would believe that the image, 17
audio, or video accurately exhibits any ap-18
pearance, speech, or expressive conduct of 19
a person who did not actually exhibit such 20
appearance, speech, or expressive conduct. 21
‘‘(3) F
EDERAL ELECTION ACTIVITY .—The term 22
‘Federal election activity’ has the meaning given the 23
term in section 301(20)(A)(iii). 24
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‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub-1
section (c), a person, political committee, or other entity 2
may not knowingly distribute materially deceptive AI-gen-3
erated audio or visual media in carrying out a Federal 4
election activity or of a covered individual for the purpose 5
of— 6
‘‘(1) influencing an election; or 7
‘‘(2) soliciting funds. 8
‘‘(c) I
NAPPLICABILITY TOCERTAINENTITIES.—This 9
section shall not apply to the following: 10
‘‘(1) A radio or television broadcasting station, 11
including a cable or satellite television operator, pro-12
grammer, or producer, or a streaming service that 13
broadcasts materially deceptive AI-generated audio 14
or visual media prohibited by this section as part of 15
a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documen-16
tary, or on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news 17
events, if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through 18
content or a disclosure, in a manner that can be eas-19
ily heard or read by the average listener or viewer, 20
that there are questions about the authenticity of 21
the materially deceptive AI-generated audio or visual 22
media. 23
‘‘(2) A regularly published newspaper, maga-24
zine, or other periodical of general circulation, in-25
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cluding an internet or electronic publication, that 1
routinely carries news and commentary of general 2
interest, and that publishes materially deceptive AI- 3
generated audio or visual media prohibited under 4
this section, if the publication clearly states that the 5
materially deceptive AI-generated audio or visual 6
media does not accurately represent the speech or 7
conduct of the covered individual. 8
‘‘(3) Materially deceptive AI-generated audio or 9
visual media that constitutes satire or parody. 10
‘‘(d) C
IVILACTION.— 11
‘‘(1) I
NJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RE -12
LIEF.— 13
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—A covered individual 14
whose voice or likeness appears in, or who is 15
the subject of, a materially deceptive AI-gen-16
erated audio or visual media, including content 17
distributed as part of a Federal election activ-18
ity, distributed in violation of this section may 19
seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohib-20
iting the distribution of materially deceptive AI- 21
generated audio or visual media in violation of 22
this section. 23
‘‘(B) P
RECEDENCE.—An action under this 24
paragraph shall be entitled to precedence in ac-25
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cordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Proce-1
dure. 2
‘‘(2) D
AMAGES.— 3
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—A covered individual 4
whose voice or likeness appears in, or who is 5
the subject of, a materially deceptive AI-gen-6
erated audio or visual media, including content 7
distributed as part of a Federal election activ-8
ity, distributed in violation of this section may 9
bring an action for general or special damages 10
against the person, committee, or other entity 11
that distributed the materially deceptive AI-gen-12
erated audio or visual media. 13
‘‘(B) A
TTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS .—In 14
addition to any damages awarded under sub-15
paragraph (A), the court may also award a pre-16
vailing party reasonable attorney’s fees and 17
costs. 18
‘‘(C) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing 19
in this paragraph shall be construed to limit or 20
preclude a plaintiff from securing or recovering 21
any other available remedy. 22
‘‘(3) B
URDEN OF PROOF .—In any civil action 23
alleging a violation of this section, the plaintiff shall 24
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bear the burden of establishing the violation through 1
clear and convincing evidence.’’. 2
(b) S
EVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 3
an amendment made by this Act, or the application of 4
such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to 5
be invalid, the remainder of this Act, or an amendment 6
made by this Act, or the application of such provision to 7
other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected. 8
Æ
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