SB 2321

This bill prohibits a person, corporation, committee, or other entity, within 90 days of an election, from distributing an electoral deepfake that the person, corporation, committee, or other entity knows or should have known deceptively or fraudulently d epicts a candidate or the political party of a candidate running for a state or local office. As used in this bill, an "e lectoral deepfake"" means a deepfake that depicts a candidate or political party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or political party or otherwise deceive a voter and that either:  Appears to a reasonable person to depict a real individual saying or doing something that did not actually occur in reality.  Gives a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of an appearance, action, or speech than the reasonable person would have gotten from an unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording, video recording, or other media. DISCLOSURE EXCEPTION This bill clarifies that t he prohibition described above does not apply if the image or audio or visual recording or other media includes a disclosure that meets certain requirements described in the bill, including identif ying the deceptive or fraudulent media as (i) an image, (ii) a video recording, an audio recording, or a combination of any of such items. CAUSE OF ACTION This bill authorizes a candidate or political party who is depicted in an electoral deepfake to seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohibiting the publication of the electoral deepfake. A person, corporation, committee, or other entity may be held liable by a county election commission for any of the following civil penalties for violating this bill:  For a violation within five years of one or more prior violations, a fine of not more than $10, 000.  For a violation with the intent to cause violence or bodily harm, a fine of not more than $5, 000.  For all other violations, a fine of not more than $1, 000. EXEMPTIONS This bill does not apply to any of the following:  A radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, that broadcasts an electoral deepfake as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure, in a manner that can be easily heard or read by the average listener or viewer, that there are questions about the authenticity of the electoral deepfake, or in cases where federal law requires broadcasters to air electoral or campaign advertisements.  A radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, when it is paid to broadcast an electoral deepfake and has made a good faith effort to establish the depiction is not an electoral deepfake, or in cases where federal law requires broadcasters to air electoral or campaign advertisements.  A website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other periodical of general circulation, including an internet or electronic publication, that routinely carries news and commentary of general interest, and that publishes an electoral deepfake that is prohibited, if the publication clearly states that the electoral deepfake does not accurately represent the appearance, action, or speech of a candidate or political party.  Electoral deepfakes that constitute satire or parody."