[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8668 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8668
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide further
transparency for the use of content that is substantially generated by
artificial intelligence in political advertisements by requiring such
advertisements to include a statement within the contents of the
advertisements if generative AI was used to generate any image, audio,
or video footage in the advertisements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 7, 2024
Mr. Morelle (for himself and Mr. Larsen of Washington) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House
Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide further
transparency for the use of content that is substantially generated by
artificial intelligence in political advertisements by requiring such
advertisements to include a statement within the contents of the
advertisements if generative AI was used to generate any image, audio,
or video footage in the advertisements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``AI Transparency in Elections Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING DISCLAIMERS ON ADVERTISEMENTS CONTAINING CONTENT
SUBSTANTIALLY GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
(a) Requirement.--Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(e) Special Disclaimer for Covered Communications Containing
Content Substantially Generated by Artificial Intelligence.--
``(1) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
``(A) Covered communication.--
``(i) In general.--The term `covered
communication' means a communication through
any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine,
outdoor advertising facility, mailing,
telephone bank, internet or other digital
medium, or any other type of general public
political advertising that--
``(I) expressly advocates for or
against the nomination or election of a
candidate;
``(II) refers to a candidate at any
time during the period beginning 120
days before the date of a primary
election or nominating caucus or
convention and ending on the date on
which a general election occurs; or
``(III) solicits a contribution for
a candidate or political committee or
any other person who makes
disbursements for communications
described in subclause (I) or (II).
``(ii) Voice and likeness.--A communication
that invokes the likeness or voice of a
candidate shall be treated as a communication
that refers to such candidate.
``(B) Generative artificial intelligence.--The term
`generative artificial intelligence' means artificial
intelligence technology that uses machine learning
(including deep-learning models, natural language
processing, or other computational processing
techniques of similar or greater complexity) to
generate text, images, audio, video, or other media.
``(C) Substantially generated by artificial
intelligence.--
``(i) In general.--The term `substantially
generated by artificial intelligence' means an
image, audio, or video that was created or
materially altered using generative artificial
intelligence.
``(ii) Exception.--Such term does not
include an image, audio, or video that--
``(I) has only minor alterations by
generative artificial intelligence
(including cosmetic adjustments, color
editing, cropping, resizing, and other
immaterial uses); and
``(II) does not create a
fundamentally different understanding
than a reasonable person would have
from an unaltered version of the media.
``(2) Requirement.--When a person makes a disbursement for
the purpose of financing a covered communication containing an
image, audio, or video that was substantially generated by
artificial intelligence, the covered communication shall
include, in a clear and conspicuous manner, a statement that
the covered communication contains such an image, audio, or
video.
``(3) Safe harbor for determining clear and conspicuous
manner.--A statement required under this subsection shall be
considered to be made in a clear and conspicuous manner if the
statement meets the following requirements:
``(A) Image covered communications.--In the case of
an image that is a covered communication, the
statement--
``(i) appears in letters at least as large
as the majority of the text in the covered
communication or otherwise meets the
requirements under subsection (c)(1);
``(ii) meets the requirements of paragraphs
(2) and (3) of subsection (c);
``(iii) states that the covered
communication was created or materially altered
by artificial intelligence; and
``(iv) is permanently affixed to the
covered communication.
``(B) Audio covered communications.--In the case of
an audio covered communication, the statement--
``(i) is spoken in a clearly audible and
intelligible manner at the beginning or end of
the covered communication and lasts not fewer
than 4 seconds; and
``(ii) includes the following audio
statement in a clearly spoken manner:
`___________ used artificial intelligence to
generate the contents of this communication.'
(with the blank filled in with the name of
person who made the disbursement to pay for
such covered communication).
``(C) Video covered communications.--In the case of
a video covered communication that also includes audio,
the statement is made both in--
``(i) a written format that meets the
requirements of subparagraph (A) and appears
throughout the length of the video covered
communication; and
``(ii) an audible format that meets the
requirements of subparagraph (B).''.
(b) Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--Section 309(a)(4)(C)(i) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C))(i)) is
amended--
(A) in the matter before subclause (I), by
inserting ``or a qualified disclaimer requirement''
after ``a qualified disclosure requirement''; and
(B) in subclause (II)--
(i) by striking ``a civil money penalty in
an amount determined, for violations of each
qualified disclosure requirement'' and
inserting ``a civil money penalty--
``(aa) for violations of each
qualified disclosure requirement, in an
amount determined'';
(ii) by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following
new item:
``(bb) for violations of each
qualified disclaimer requirement, in an
amount which is determined under a
schedule of penalties which is
established and published by the
Commission and which takes into account
the existence of previous violations by
the person and how broadly the
communication is distributed and such
other factors as the Commission
considers appropriate, provided that
any such civil penalty shall not exceed
$50,000 per covered communication.''.
(2) Failure to respond.--Section 309(a)(4)(C)(ii) of such
Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``, except that in the case of
a violation of a qualified disclaimer requirement, failure to
timely respond after the Commission has notified the person of
an alleged violation under subsection (a)(1) shall constitute
the person's admission of the factual allegations of the
complaint.''.
(3) Qualified disclaimer requirement defined.--Section
309(a)(4)(C) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)) is amended
by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi) and by inserting
after clause (iv) the following new clause:
``(v) In this subparagraph, the term `qualified
disclaimer requirement' means the requirement of
section 318(e)(2).''.
(4) Application.--Clause (vi) of section 309(a)(4)(C) of
such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)), as redesignated by
paragraph (3), is amended--
(A) by striking ``shall apply with respect to
violations'' and inserting ``shall apply--
``(I) with respect to violations of
qualified disclosure requirements'';
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting
``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
subclause:
``(II) with respect to violations
of qualified disclaimer requirements
occurring on or after the date of the
enactment of the AI Transparency in
Elections Act of 2024.''.
(5) Time of judicial review.--Section 309(a)(8)(A) of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30109(a)(8)(A)) is amended by inserting ``(45-day period in the
case of any complaint alleging a violation of section
318(e)(2))'' after ``120-day period''.
(c) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of the AI Transparency in Elections Act of 2024, the Federal
Election Commission shall, in consultation with the Director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, promulgate a regulation
to carry out the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b),
including--
(1) criteria for determining whether a covered
communication (as defined in section 318(e) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by subsection (a))
contains an image, audio, or video substantially generated by
artificial intelligence (as defined in such section); and
(2) requirements for the contents of the statement required
under section 318(e)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971, as added by subsection (a).
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall--
(1) apply with respect to any communication made after the
date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) take effect without regard to whether the Federal
Election Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out
such amendments.
SEC. 3. REPORTS.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and
biannually thereafter, the Federal Election Commission shall submit a
report to the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate and
the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives
that includes--
(1) an assessment of the compliance with and the
enforcement of the requirements of subsection (e) of section
318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by
this Act; and
(2) recommendations for any modifications to that
subsection to assist in carrying out the purposes of that
subsection.
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act, or
the application of any such provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this
Act, and the application of such provision or amendment to any other
person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding.
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