[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8858 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8858
To prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to deprive or defraud
individuals of the right to vote in elections for public office, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 27, 2024
Ms. Brown (for herself, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Lee of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Evans, Mr. Goldman of New
York, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Magaziner, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Carson, Ms. Kelly of
Illinois, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Lee of
California, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Lieu, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. Frost,
Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Plaskett, Ms.
Barragan, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Ryan, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Jackson of Illinois,
Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Espaillat, Ms.
McCollum, Ms. Adams, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Waters, Mr. Clyburn,
Ms. Pressley, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr. Cleaver) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to deprive or defraud
individuals of the right to vote in elections for public office, 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 ``Securing Elections From AI Deception
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Covered algorithm.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered algorithm''
means a computational process described in subparagraph
(B) that--
(i) creates or facilitates the creation of
a product or information;
(ii) promotes, recommends, ranks, or
otherwise affects the display or delivery of
material information;
(iii) makes a decision; or
(iv) facilitates human decision making.
(B) Computational process described.--In
subparagraph (A), a computational process described in
this subparagraph is--
(i) a computational process that uses
machine learning, natural language processing,
artificial intelligence techniques, or other
computational processing techniques of similar
or greater complexity; or
(ii) a deterministic computational process
derived from a process described in clause (i).
(3) Deployer.--The term ``deployer'' means any person,
other than an individual acting in a non-commercial context,
that uses a covered algorithm. Nothing in this paragraph may be
construed to prohibit a person who is a deployer under this
paragraph from treatment as a developer under this Act.
(4) Developer.--The term ``developer'' means any person
that designs, codes, customizes, or produces a covered
algorithm, or substantially modifies a covered algorithm,
whether for its own use or for use by a third party. Nothing in
this paragraph may be construed to prohibit a person who is a
developer under this paragraph from treatment as a deployer
under this Act.
(5) Election worker.--The term ``election worker'' an
individual who is an election official, poll worker, or an
election volunteer in connection with the administration of an
election for a Federal, state, or local office.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DEPRIVE OR
DEFRAUD INDIVIDUALS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN ELECTIONS FOR
PUBLIC OFFICE.
(a) Prohibition.--A developer or deployer shall not use a covered
algorithm in a manner that intentionally deprives or defrauds, or
intentionally attempts to deprive or defraud, an individual of the
right to vote in an election for Federal, State, or local office,
including the following:
(1) Providing deceptive information regarding--
(A) the time, place, or method of voting or
registering to vote;
(B) the eligibility requirements to vote or
register to vote;
(C) the counting and canvassing of ballots;
(D) the adjudication of elections;
(E) endorsements by any person or candidate; or
(F) any other material information pertaining to
the procedures or requirements for voting or
registering to vote in an election for Federal, State,
or local office.
(2) Using deception, threats, intimidation, fraud, or
coercion to prevent, interfere with, retaliate against, or
deter, or to attempt to prevent, interfere with, retaliate
against, or deter, an individual from--
(A) registering to vote;
(B) voting;
(C) supporting or advocating for a candidate in the
election; or
(D) serving as, executing the responsibilities of,
or assisting an election worker, including processing
or scanning ballots, or tabulating, canvassing, or
certifying voting results.
(b) Penalty.--Whoever commits a violation of subsection (a) shall
be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more
than 1 year, or both.
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect upon the
expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. REQUIRING DISCLAIMERS ON ELECTION-RELATED CONTENT GENERATED BY
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
(a) Requirement for Persons Deploying Content.--
(1) In general.--A deployer who uses a covered algorithm to
generate, in whole or in part, an image, text, video, audio, or
other media, and intentionally publishes such content, shall
include the disclaimer described in paragraph (2) if--
(A) the content includes a simulation, alteration,
or distortion of an image or video of a candidate for
Federal, State, or local office;
(B) the content includes audio simulating,
altering, or distorting the voice of a candidate for
Federal, State, or local office; or
(C) the content depicts information about the time,
place, manner, or requirements for voting or
registering to vote in election for Federal, State, or
local office.
(2) Disclaimer described.--The disclaimer described in this
paragraph is either of the following:
(A) The following statement: ``AI Disclaimer: This
output was generated by artificial intelligence''.
(B) A symbol, similar in size and design to the
copyright symbol, consisting of the letters ``AI'' in a
circle.
(b) Requirements for Developers.--A developer who offers the
ability to use a covered algorithm to generate or publish any content
described in subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (a)(1)
shall--
(1) provide deployers of the covered algorithm a mechanism
to comply with subsection (a); and
(2) to the extent technically feasible, make the
disclaimers required to be included by the deployer under
subsection (a) permanent or unable to be easily removed.
(c) Administration and Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
(1) Regulations required.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue
regulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code,
that detail the time, place, manner, and other appropriate
requirements for the use of the disclaimer required by
subsection (a), including accessibility for persons with
disabilities and measures to ensure that the disclaimer is
appropriate to the medium in which it is published.
(2) Additional authority.--The Commission may issue
regulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code,
that provide exceptions to subsection (a) in specific
circumstances in which it would be obvious to a reasonable
person that the media is a synthetic depiction of an actual
item, place, person, or event.
(3) Enforcement.--
(A) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A
violation of this section or a regulation issued under
this section shall be treated as a violation of a
regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding
unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(B) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall
enforce this section and any regulation issued under
this section in the same manner, by the same means, and
with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as
though all applicable terms and provisions of the
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.)
were incorporated into and made a part of this section,
and any person who violates this section or a
regulation issued under this section shall be subject
to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and
immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission
Act.
(4) Reporting requirement.--
(A) Public education.--During the 5-year period
which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall undertake reasonable efforts to
educate the public about the meaning and use of the
disclaimer required by subsection (a).
(B) Report.--At the conclusion of the period
described in subparagraph (A), the Commission shall
submit a report to Congress on the adoption and
effectiveness of the disclaimer required by subsection
(a).
(d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect upon the
expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date on which the
Commission issues the regulations required under subsection (c)(1).
SEC. 5. DUTY OF CARE.
(a) In General.--A developer or deployer shall not offer, license,
or use a covered algorithm in a manner that is not safe and effective.
(b) Safe.--For purposes of subsection (a), a covered algorithm is
safe if--
(1) the developer or deployer has taken reasonable measures
to prevent or mitigate harms identified by a pre-deployment
evaluation or impact assessment;
(2) use of the covered algorithm as intended is not likely
to result in a violation of this Act; and
(3) the developer or deployer evaluates the possibility of
not offering, licensing, or using the covered algorithm, or
removing a covered algorithm from use, and reasonably concludes
that--
(A) use of the covered algorithm is not likely to
result in substantial harm to individuals;
(B) the benefits to individuals affected by the
covered algorithm likely outweigh the costs to such
individuals;
(C) individuals can reasonably avoid being affected
by the covered algorithm; and
(D) use of the covered algorithm is not likely to
result in deceptive practices.
(c) Effective.--For purposes of subsection (a), a covered algorithm
is effective if the developer or deployer has taken reasonable steps to
ensure that--
(1) the covered algorithm functions at a level that would
be considered reasonable performance by a person with ordinary
skill in the art;
(2) the covered algorithm functions in a manner that is
consistent with the expected performance and publicly
advertised performance of the covered algorithm;
(3) the covered algorithm functions in a manner that is
consistent with any publicly advertised purpose or use; and
(4) any data used in the design, development, deployment,
or use of the covered algorithm is relevant and appropriate to
the deployment context and the publicly advertised purpose.
(d) Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall enforce
this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with
the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a
part of this section, and any person who violates this section
shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the
privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade
Commission Act.
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