SCS CSHB 358(JUD): "An Act relating to defamation claims based on the use of synthetic media; relating to the use of synthetic media in electioneering communications; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 358(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to defamation claims based on the use of synthetic media; relating to 02 the use of synthetic media in electioneering communications; and providing for an 03 effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 09.65.360. Civil liability for defamation based on synthetic media. An 07 action for defamation based on the use of synthetic media is a claim for defamation 08 per se. In this section, "synthetic media" has the meaning given in AS 15.80.009(f). 09 * Sec. 2. AS 15.80 is amended by adding a new section to read: 10 Sec. 15.80.009. Synthetic media in electioneering communications. (a) A 11 person may not knowingly use synthetic media in an electioneering communication 12 with the intent to influence an election. 13 (b) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 14 violates this section may bring an action in the superior court to recover damages, full
01 reasonable attorney fees, and costs from 02 (1) the person who created the electioneering communication or 03 retained the services of another to create the electioneering communication; 04 (2) a person who disseminates an electioneering communication 05 knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media; or 06 (3) a person who removes a disclosure statement described in (d) of 07 this section from an electioneering communication with the intent to influence an 08 election and knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media. 09 (c) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 10 violates this section may seek injunctive relief in the superior court to prohibit 11 publication of the synthetic media. 12 (d) It is a defense to an action under this section that 13 (1) the electioneering communication included the following 14 disclosure statement: "This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated" and 15 (A) for visual media that included other text, the text of the 16 disclosure statement remained visible throughout the entirety of the 17 communication, was easily readable by the average viewer, and was in a font 18 not smaller than the largest font size of any other text that appeared in the 19 visual component; 20 (B) for visual media that did not include any other text, the 21 disclosure statement was in a font size that was easily readable by the average 22 viewer; 23 (C) for a communication that consisted of only audio, the 24 disclosure statement was read 25 (i) at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the audio, 26 and, if the audio was longer than two minutes in duration, at intervals 27 interspersed within the audio that occurred at least once every two 28 minutes; and 29 (ii) in a clear manner and in a pitch and at a speed that 30 was easily heard by the average listener; or 31 (2) the synthetic media constitutes satire or parody.
01 (e) An interactive computer service, Internet service provider, cloud service 02 provider, telecommunications network, or radio or television broadcaster, including a 03 cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, is not liable under this 04 section for hosting, publishing, or distributing an electioneering communication 05 provided by another person. This subsection does not prevent an individual from 06 bringing an action under (b)(3) of this section for removing a disclosure statement. 07 (f) In this section, 08 (1) "access software provider" means a provider of client, server, or 09 other software or enabling tools that 10 (A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content; 11 (B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or 12 (C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, 13 organize, reorganize, or translate content; 14 (2) "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for 15 explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input the system receives, how to 16 generate outputs, including predictions, content, recommendations, and decisions that 17 can influence physical or virtual environments, with different artificial intelligence 18 systems varying in levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment; 19 (3) "electioneering communication" means a communication that 20 (A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate or political 21 party; 22 (B) is disseminated through a mailing, a newspaper, the 23 Internet, or broadcast media, including radio, television, cable, or satellite, to 24 an audience that includes voters who will have the opportunity to vote on a 25 candidate identified in the communication or on a candidate of a party 26 identified in the communication; and 27 (C) when read as a whole and with limited reference to outside 28 events, is susceptible of no other reasonable interpretation but as an 29 exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate; 30 (4) "interactive computer service" means an information service, 31 system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by
01 multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that 02 provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by 03 libraries or educational institutions; 04 (5) "synthetic media" 05 (A) means an image, audio recording, or video recording of an 06 individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that is manipulated by artificial 07 intelligence in a manner that creates a realistic but false image, audio 08 recording, or video recording and produces 09 (i) a depiction that a reasonable person would believe is 10 of a real individual in appearance, speech, or conduct but did not 11 actually occur in reality; and 12 (ii) a materially different understanding or impression 13 than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original 14 version of the image, audio recording, or video recording; 15 (B) does not include an image, audio recording, or video 16 recording that is minimally edited, adjusted, or enhanced by artificial 17 intelligence without materially altering how the meaning or significance of the 18 depiction would be perceived by a reasonable person. 19 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).