SB9: SB9 "Ensuring Accountability for Illegal AI Activities Act"; enact

LC 56 0401S The House Committee on Rules offers the following substitute to SB 9: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections, so as to1 establish the criminal offenses of fraudulent election interference and solicitation of such; to2 provide for definitions; to provide for exceptions; to provide for the Attorney General to have3 concurrent jurisdiction over such crimes; to provide for punishment; to provide for injunctive4 relief; to provide for the State Election Board to publish results of investigations into such5 offenses; to provide for certain disclaimers on campaign advert isements that use AI6 generated media; to provide for the form of such disclaimers; to provide for definitions; to7 provide for legislative findings and intent; to provide for related matters; to provide for an8 effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:10 PART I11 SECTION 1-1.12 The General Assembly finds:13 (1) The significant and rapid increase in use and advancements of artificial intelligence14 and other sophisticated technologies poses a unique danger to the State of Georgia's free15 and fair system of elections;16 - 1 - LC 56 0401S (2) Artificial intelligence and other technologies now allow individuals, both in good faith17 and bad faith, to create AI generated media that falsely depicts conduct that appears to be18 real;19 (3) The state and its citizens have the utmost rights to both free and fair elections and20 freedom of speech; and21 (4) This Act is narrowly tailored for the purpose of protection against the use of deceptive22 media in bad faith to influence elections by reducing certain candidates' chances of being23 elected or by suppressing voter turnout through mass confusion.24 PART II25 SECTION 2-1.26 Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections, is amended in27 Chapter 2, relating to elections and primaries generally, by ad ding a new Code section to28 read as follows:29 "21-2-605.30 (a) As used in this Code section, the term:31 (1) 'Election' shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Section 21-5-3.32 (2) 'Materially deceptive media' means a video recording, video file, audio recording, or33 audio file, still image, or still image file that:34 (A) Appears to depict a real individual's speech or conduct that did not occur in reality;35 and36 (B) Would appear to a reasonable observer to be authentic.37 (3) 'Person' means any employee, staff member, or other similarly affiliated individual38 of a political party, political body, candidate, campaign commi ttee, political action39 committee, or any other political committee. Such term shall not include a broadcaster,40 cable provider, online service, internet service provider, stre aming platform, or any41 - 2 - LC 56 0401S employees or agents thereof, who otherwise would not fall under this definition of person42 except for their sale of advertising to a person as defined in this paragraph.43 (b) A person commits the offense of fraudulent election interf erence if he or she, with44 knowledge of its falsity, publishes, broadcasts, streams, or up loads materially deceptive45 media within 90 days of an election with the intent to deceive one or more electors for the46 purpose of:47 (1) Significantly influencing a candidate's chance of being elected in such election;48 (2) Creating confusion about the administration of such election; or49 (3) Otherwise influencing the result of such referendum.50 (c) A person commits the offense of solicitation of fraudulent election interference when51 he or she, with the intent that a violation proscribed by subsection (b) of this Code section52 be committed, commands, encourages, or requests any individual to commit a violation53 proscribed by subsection (b) of this Code section.54 (d) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to activities protected by the First Amendment55 to the United States Constitution, including, but not limited t o, satire, parody, works of56 artistic expression, or works of journalism by bona fide news organizations.57 (e) Upon conviction of an offense under this Code section, a person shall be punished as58 follows:59 (1) For the first offense, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and60 (2) For the second or subsequent offense, he or she shall be guilty of a felony and, upon61 conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not l ess than two years nor62 more than five years and by a fine not to exceed $50,000.00.63 (f) For prosecutions under this Code section, venue shall be proper in any county in this64 state where:65 (1) Any act was committed in furtherance of the unlawful conduct;66 (2) The candidate affected by the alleged violation resides;67 (3) The defendant resided at the time of the alleged violation; or68 - 3 - LC 56 0401S (4) The materially deceptive media is received.69 (g) The Attorney General shall have concurrent jurisdiction to conduct the criminal70 prosecution of a violation of this Code section. A criminal prosecution for a violation of71 this Code section shall only be initiated upon the Attorney Gen eral receiving a72 recommendation to prosecute from the State Election Board.73 (h) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, a cause of action for injunctive relief74 may be maintained against any person who is in violation of this Code section, by:75 (1) An individual depicted in the materially deceptive media;76 (2) The Attorney General; or77 (3) A candidate for office who has been injured or is likely t o be injured by the78 distribution of the materially deceptive media."79 SECTION 2-2.80 Said chapter is further amended in Code Section 21-2-31, relati ng to duties of the State81 Election Board, by revising paragraph (5) as follows:82 "(5) To investigate, or authorize the Secretary of State to investigate, when necessary or83 advisable the administration of primary and election laws and frauds and irregularities in84 primaries and elections and to report violations of the primary and election laws either85 to the Attorney General or the appropriate district attorney who shall be responsible for86 further investigation and prosecution. Except as provided in C ode Section 21-2-605,87 nothing Nothing in this paragraph shall be so construed as to require any comp laining88 party to request an investigation by the board before such party might proceed to seek any89 other remedy available to that party under this chapter or any other provision of law;"90 - 4 - LC 56 0401S SECTION 2-3.91 Said chapter is further amended in Code Section 21-2-33.1, rela ting to enforcement of92 chapter, suspension of election superintendents, and support an d assistance from the93 Secretary of State, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:94 "(a.1) In any investigation stemming from an alleged violation of Code Section 21-2-605,95 the State Election Board shall release to the public the findin gs of any completed96 investigation."97 SECTION 2-4.98 Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections, is further amended99 in Chapter 5, relating to government transparency and campaign finance, by adding a new100 article to read as follows:101 "ARTICLE 5102 21-5-90.103 As used in this article, the term:104 (1) 'AI generated media' means a video recording, video file, audio recording, audio file,105 still image, or still image file that:106 (A) Is created through the use of an artificial intelligence system;107 (B) Depicts a real individual's speech or conduct that did not occur in reality; and108 (C) Appears to a reasonable observer to be authentic.109 (2) 'Artificial intelligence system' means an engineered or ma chine based system that110 emulates the capability of a person to receive audio, visual, t ext, or any other form of111 information and use the information received to emulate a human cognitive process,112 including, but not limited to, learning, generalizing, reasonin g, planning, predicting,113 acting, or communicating; provided, however, that artificial in telligence systems may114 - 5 - LC 56 0401S vary in the forms of information they can receive and in the human cognitive processes115 they can emulate.116 (3) 'Campaign advertisement' means any campaign material, commercial, advertisement,117 or other media designed to bring about the nomination or election of an individual to any118 elected office; designed to bring about the recall of a public officer holding elective office119 or to oppose the recall of a public officer holding elective of fice; or designed to bring120 about the approval or rejection by the voters of any proposed constitutional amendment,121 a state-wide referendum, or a proposed question which is to appear on the ballot in this122 state or in a county or a municipal election in this state.123 (4) 'Person' means any employee, staff member, or other similarly affiliated individual124 of a political part y, political body, ca ndidate, campaign commi ttee, political action125 committee, or any other political committee. Such term shall not include a broadcaster,126 cable provider, online service, internet service provider, stre aming platform, or any127 employees or agents thereof, who otherwise would not fall under this definition of person128 except for their sale of advertising to a person as defined in this paragraph.129 21-5-91.130 (a) Notwithstanding the prohibitions contained in Code Section 21-2-605, any person may131 use AI generated content in any campaign advertisement, so long as the campaign132 advertisement discloses, in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 21-5-92:133 (1) The name of the candidate or candidates or campaign committee or committees that134 created, sponsored, and paid for the campaign advertisement;135 (2) The name of each person who is being impersonated;136 (3) That events depicted may not have actually occurred; and137 (4) That artificial intelligence was used to make part or all of the content of the campaign138 advertisement.139 - 6 - LC 56 0401S (b) Minor editing of a piece of existing audio or visual media shall not require disclosure140 under this Code section when such minor editing would not subst antially change an141 observer's understanding of such media.142 21-5-92.143 The disclosure provided for in Code Section 21-5-91 shall meet the following144 requirements:145 (1) For each campaign advertisement that involves the use, in whole or in part, of visual146 media, such disclosure:147 (A) Shall be in writing and completed in each written language used in the remainder148 of the advertisement; and149 (B) Shall be clearly readable, which shall mean that the text of the disclosure shall:150 (i) Be equal to or greater than 30 percent of the vertical picture height;151 (ii) Be visible for a period of at least 30 percent of the media, in the case of moving152 images and video; and153 (iii) Appear with a reasonable degree of color contrast between the background and154 the text of the statement. A statement satisfies the color contrast requirement of this155 division if it is printed in black text on a white background or if the degree of color156 contrast between the background and the text of the statement is no less than the color157 contrast between the background and the largest type size used in the communication;158 and159 (2) For each campaign advertisement that involves the use of audible media but does not160 involve the use of any visual media, such disclosure shall be a nnounced, articulated,161 spoken, or otherwise rendered completely using the same audible volume, the same rate162 of speaking as measured in words per minute, and each spoken language as used in the163 remainder of the advertisement.164 - 7 - LC 56 0401S 21-5-93.165 (a) Each violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine pursuant to the provisions166 of Code Section 21-5-6, except that the amount of such fine sha ll not be less than167 $10,000.00.168 (b) Any violation of this article involving the use of AI generated media in a solicitation169 for fundraising shall be punishable by disgorgement of any funds raised within ten days of170 such solicitation.171 (c) Except as described in subsection (a) of this Code section, nothing in this Code section172 shall be construed so as to limit the powers or remedies available to the commission.173 (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the commission shall be174 authorized to investigate any complaint concerning a violation of this article within 90 days175 of an election.176 21-5-94.177 The commission shall be authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be178 necessary for the execution of its functions under this article."179 PART III180 SECTION 3-1.181 This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law182 without such approval.183 SECTION 3-2.184 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.185 - 8 -