*CS/HB 182 ELECTION CHANGES

Rep Gail C. Chasey

Actions: [2] HGEIC/HJC-HGEIC [6] DP-HJC [10] DNP-CS/DP [14] PASSED/H (38-28) [9] SJC-SJC [13] DP - PASSED/S (25-14) SGND BY GOV (Mar. 5) Ch. 57.

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 House Bill 182 (HB 182) amends sections of the Campaign Reporting Act by requiring disclaimers for advertisements generated by using artificial intelligence or containing materially deceptive media.  It also creates the crime of distributing materially deceptive media.  The bill has an emergency clause, to take effect immediately.  

 First, House Bill 182 (HB 182) amends the Campaign Reporting Act (Ac) by requiring disclaimers for campaign advertisements that were generated in whole or in party by using artificial intelligence (AI). The bill provides specific requirements for how the disclaimer must be presented in written ads, graphic ads, audio communications, and videos. A person who creates, produces or purchases such an advertisement and fails to adhere to the disclaimer requirement is subject to the civil penalties provided in Section 1-19-34.6, which are up to $1,000 per occurrence. 

However, these disclaimers do not apply to: (1) radio/TV/cable/satellite stations that broadcast the advertisement as part of the news if the broadcast acknowledges that the advertisement was generated using AI and does not accurately represent the speech or conduct of the depicted individual; (2) radio/TV/cable/satellite stations that broadcast the advertisement for payment; (3) ads that are satire or parody; and (4) ads that are published on a platform that has a policy that ads include a similar disclaimer of HB 182.  A distribution platform (a website, newspaper, or magazine) is not liable if an ad or prerecorded telephone message does not have the disclaimer if the platform can prove they provided to the person who created, purchased or produced the ad that their policy that requires a disclaimer for AI. 

Second, the bill enacts a new section of the Campaign Reporting Act that makes it a violation of the Act for a person to distribute, or enter into an agreement with another person to distribute, materially deceptive media.  A first violation is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $500.  A violation that occurs within five years of a prior conviction is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.  Enforcement of this prohibition may be sought by the attorney general, a district attorney, a falsely depicted individual, a candidate for office injured or likely to be injured by the media, or any organization that represents the interests of voters who are likely to be misled by the deceptive media. 

“Materially deceptive media” is defined as an image, video or audio that depicts an individual in conduct or speech that did not occur, and which causes a reasonable person to incorrectly believe that it occurred, and it was produced in whole or in part by using AI.  The violation occurs when a person knows the media falsely represents a depicted individual, occurs within 90 days of an election, and the person intends the distribution to alter voting behavior by misleading voters.  

However, there are exceptions to this prohibition of materially deceptive media.  It does not apply to: (1) video that has a clear disclaimer that appears throughout the entire video that states that the media has been manipulated using AI and depicts speech or conduct that did not occur; (2) audio if there is a clear disclaimer at the beginning and end of the audio; (3) a still image if there is a clear disclaimer; and (4) media that was generated by editing an existing image, audio or video if there is a disclaimer in the form of a citation directing to the original form of the image, audio or video. 

HB 182 has an emergency clause, to take effect immediately. 
 

 On February 8, 2024, HJCcs/HB 182 amended the original bill as follows:
•	Changes the definition of “artificial intelligence” to mean a machine or computer-based system that uses data to emulate the structure and characteristics of data in order to generate synthetic content, including images, video or audio. 
•	Amends the definition of “depicted individual” by removing the requirement that the individual be clearly identifiable by an average person. 
•	Amends the definition of “distribution platform” to include an internet forum, message board, or application. It also removes the requirement that the platform’s news be of general interest and removes the requirement that it publish advertisements.
•	Amends the definition of “materially deceptive media” by removing the requirement that a reasonable person would incorrectly believe that the depicted individual engaged in the conduct or speech. 
•	Amends the disclaimer for advertisements. It removes the requirement that the advertisement be generated in whole or in part by artificial intelligence and replaces it with the requirement that it contains “materially deceptive media.” 
•	Clarifies the disclaimer requirement. A disclaimer must say: “This image/video/audio has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.” 
•	Clarifies how disclaimers are to be presented. For visual media that is an image, the text of the disclaimer must be in a size that is easily readable. For visual media that is video, the disclaimer must appear for the duration of the video in a size that is easily readable. For media that contains only audio, the disclaimer must be read in a clearly spoken manner at the beginning and end of the audio (if the audio is longer than two minutes, the disclaimer must be put in at two-minute intervals). For mixed media, the disclaimer must be in the same form as required for each form of media used. 
•	Adds that streaming service operators are subject to these disclaimer requirements
•	Adds that an advertisement that is a parody must also include a disclaimer
•	Adds that nothing precludes a claim pursuant to any other section of law or any civil action for damages.
•	Changes the penalty for a subsequent conviction of unlawful use of materially deceptive media from a felony that carries up to five years in prison, to a fourth degree felony. It also removes the requirement that the subsequent conviction occur within five years of a prior conviction.