CSHB 358(2d JUD): "An Act relating to defamation claims based on the use of deepfakes; and relating to the use of deepfakes in electioneering communications."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 358(2d JUD) 01 "An Act relating to defamation claims based on the use of deepfakes; and relating to the 02 use of deepfakes in electioneering communications." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 05 Sec. 09.65.360. Civil liability for defamation based on deepfakes. An action 06 for defamation based on the use of a deepfake is a claim for defamation per se. In this 07 section, "deepfake" has the meaning given in AS 15.80.009(f). 08 * Sec. 2. AS 15.80 is amended by adding a new section to read: 09 Sec. 15.80.009. Deepfakes in electioneering communications. (a) A person 10 may not knowingly use a deepfake in an electioneering communication with the intent 11 to influence an election. 12 (b) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 13 violates this section may bring an action in the superior court to recover damages, full 14 reasonable attorney fees, and costs from
01 (1) the person who created the electioneering communication or 02 retained the services of another to create the electioneering communication; 03 (2) a person who disseminates an electioneering communication 04 knowing that the electioneering communication includes a deepfake; or 05 (3) a person who removes a disclosure statement described in (d) of 06 this section from an electioneering communication with the intent to influence an 07 election and knowing that the electioneering communication includes a deepfake. 08 (c) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 09 violates this section may seek injunctive relief in the superior court to prohibit 10 publication of the deepfake. 11 (d) It is a defense to an action under this section that the electioneering 12 communication included the following disclosure statement: "This 13 (image/video/audio) has been manipulated." and 14 (1) for visual media that included other text, the text of the disclosure 15 statement remained visible throughout the entirety of the communication, was easily 16 readable by the average viewer, and was in a font not smaller than the largest font size 17 of any other text that appeared in the visual component; 18 (2) for visual media that did not include any other text, the disclosure 19 statement was in a font size that was easily readable by the average viewer; 20 (3) for a communication that consisted of only audio, the disclosure 21 statement was read 22 (A) at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the audio, and, 23 if the audio was longer than two minutes in duration, at intervals interspersed 24 within the audio that occurred at least once every two minutes; and 25 (B) in a clear manner and in a pitch that was easily heard by the 26 average listener. 27 (e) An interactive computer service, Internet service provider, cloud service 28 provider, telecommunications network, or radio or television broadcaster, including a 29 cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, is not liable under this 30 section for hosting, publishing, or distributing an electioneering communication 31 provided by another person. This subsection does not prevent an individual from
01 bringing an action under (b)(3) of this section for removing a disclosure statement. 02 (f) In this section, 03 (1) "access software provider" means a provider of client, server, or 04 other software or enabling tools that 05 (A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content; 06 (B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or 07 (C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, 08 organize, reorganize, or translate content; 09 (2) "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for 10 explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input the system receives, how to 11 generate outputs, including predictions, content, recommendations, and decisions that 12 can influence physical or virtual environments, with different artificial intelligence 13 systems varying in levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment; 14 (3) "deepfake" means any visual or audio media that is created, altered, 15 or otherwise manipulated by artificial intelligence in a manner that 16 (A) to a reasonable observer, appears to be an authentic record 17 of an individual's actual speech, conduct, or likeness; and 18 (B) conveys a fundamentally different understanding or 19 impression of the individual's appearance, action, or speech than a reasonable 20 person would have from the unaltered, original version of the individual's 21 appearance, action, or speech; 22 (4) "electioneering communication" means a communication that 23 (A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate or political 24 party; 25 (B) is disseminated through a mailing, a newspaper, the 26 Internet, or broadcast media, including radio, television, cable, or satellite, to 27 an audience that includes voters who will have the opportunity to vote on a 28 candidate identified in the communication or on a candidate of a party 29 identified in the communication; and 30 (C) when read as a whole and with limited reference to outside 31 events, is susceptible of no other reasonable interpretation but as an
01 exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate; 02 (5) "interactive computer service" means an information service, 03 system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by 04 multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that 05 provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by 06 libraries or educational institutions.