The proposed bill aims to establish new criminal offenses related to deceptive and injurious media during election campaigns in Arkansas. It amends Arkansas Code 7-1-103(a) to include several specific unlawful actions, such as purposefully deceiving the audience by misrepresenting the source of political advertising or campaign communications. Additionally, the bill criminalizes the creation and distribution of deep fake videos and altered images intended to injure a candidate or influence election results, particularly during the 90 days leading up to an election.

Key provisions include the definition of "deep fake video" as a manipulated video that falsely depicts a real person and the definition of "altered image" as an image that has been significantly changed to misrepresent an individual. The bill also provides an affirmative defense for those accused of altering images if they clearly label the image as altered. Overall, the legislation seeks to enhance the integrity of election campaigns by addressing the potential harms of misleading media.

Statutes affected:
HB 1141: 7-1-103(a)