§ 14-106 — Political communication

§ 14-106. Political communication. 1. The statements required to be\nfiled under the provisions of this article next succeeding a primary,\ngeneral or special election shall be accompanied by a copy of all\nbroadcast, cable or satellite schedules and scripts, paid internet or\ndigital, print and other types of advertisements, pamphlets, circulars,\nflyers, brochures, letterheads and other printed matter purchased or\nproduced, and reproductions of statements or information published to\nfive hundred or more members of a general public audience by computer or\nother electronic device including but not limited to electronic mail or\ntext message, purchased in connection with such election by or under the\nauthority of the person filing the statement or the committee or the\nperson on whose behalf it is filed, as the case may be. Such copies,\nschedules and scripts shall be preserved by the officer with whom or the\nboard with which it is required to be filed for a period of one year\nfrom the date of filing thereof.\n 2. All political committees that make an expenditure for a political\ncommunication shall be required to disclose the identity of the\npolitical committee which made the expenditure for such political\ncommunication. The disclosure on printed or digital political\ncommunications, including but not limited to brochures, flyers, posters,\nmailings, public-facing websites, or internet advertising shall be\nprinted or typed in an appropriate legible form to read as follows:\n"Paid for by:" followed by the name of the political committee making\nthe expenditure. The disclosure on non-printed or digital political\ncommunications shall clearly and prominently display and/or speak the\nfollowing statement: "Paid for by:" followed by the name of the\npolitical committee making the expenditure. In the case of a political\ncommunication that is not visual, such as radio or automated telephone\ncalls, clearly speaking the statement will satisfy the requirements of\nthis section. In the case of a public-facing website paid for, hosted,\nand/or operated by a political committee, the disclosure shall be\nclearly displayed within each navigable webpage of such website.\n 3. Political communications that are considered promotional items\nwhich support a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue\nand limit the content of communication to the name, office and brief\nmessage of support, shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivision\ntwo of this section. Promotional items shall be items that are of\nnominal value and are distributed to the general public in an effort to\npromote a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue\nincluding but not limited to pens, bumper stickers, yard signs, buttons,\nshirts, bags or balloons.\n 4. Political communication that is considered digital media which\nadvertises for a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue\nwhich limits the content of communication to the name, office and brief\nmessage shall not be subject to the provisions of subdivision two of\nthis section if such digital media is unable to contain the "paid for\nby" statement due to its small size and contains a link to another\nwebpage where the "paid for by" statement is prominently displayed.\n 5. (a) For purposes of this subdivision:\n (i) "Materially deceptive media" means any image, video, audio, text,\nor any technological representation of speech or conduct fully or\npartially created or modified that:\n (1) exhibits a high level of authenticity or convincing appearance\nthat is visually or audibly indistinguishable from reality to a\nreasonable person;\n (2) depicts a scenario that did not actually occur or that has been\naltered in a significant way from how they actually occurred; and\n (3) is created by or with software, machine learning, artificial\nintelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means,\nincluding adapting, modifying, manipulating, or altering a realistic\ndepiction.\n (ii) "Information content provider" means any person or entity that is\nresponsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of\ninformation provided through the Internet or any other interactive\ncomputer service.\n (b) (i) A person, firm, association, corporation, campaign, committee,\nor organization that distributes or publishes any political\ncommunication that was produced by or includes materially deceptive\nmedia and has actual knowledge that it is materially deceptive shall be\nrequired to disclose this use.\n (ii) (1) For visual media the disclosure shall be printed or typed in\na legible font size easily readable by the average viewer that is no\nsmaller than other text appearing in the visual media and in the same\nlanguage used on the communication to read as follows: "This (image,\nvideo, or audio) has been manipulated".\n (2) For communication that is auditory, such as radio or automated\ntelephone calls, clearly speaking the statement at the beginning of the\naudio, at the end of the audio, and, if the audio is greater than two\nminutes in length, interspersed within the audio at intervals of not\ngreater than two minutes each and in the same language as the rest of\nthe audio used in the communication, and in a pitch that can be easily\nheard by the average listener satisfies the requirements of clause one\nof this subparagraph.\n (iii) This paragraph shall not apply to the following:\n (1) materially deceptive media that constitutes satire or parody;\n (2) materially deceptive media distributed by a bona fide news\nreporting entity for the purpose of news reporting or coverage, if the\nreporting clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure, in a\nmanner that can be easily read or heard by the average listener or\nviewer, that there are questions about the authenticity of the\nmaterially deceptive media;\n (3) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable\ntelevision, satellite television or streaming service operator,\nprogrammer, producer or other similar entity, that broadcasts a\npolitical communication when the station or streaming service is paid to\nbroadcast the political communication if the station or streaming\nservice can show that it has disclaimer requirements that are consistent\nwith the requirements provided in this paragraph and that it provided\nthose disclaimer requirements to each person or entity that purchased\nthe broadcast or streaming of the advertisement; or\n (4) initial dissemination by a platform or service including, but not\nlimited to, a website, regularly published newspaper, or magazine, where\nthe content disseminated is materially deceptive media provided by\nanother information content provider.\n (iv) A candidate whose voice or likeness appears in materially\ndeceptive media in violation of this subdivision may seek reasonable\ncourt costs and attorneys' fees and injunctive relief prohibiting the\ndistribution, publication or broadcasting of any materially deceptive\nmedia in violation of this subdivision against such individual or entity\nwho disseminated or published such media without the consent of the\nperson depicted and who knew or should have known that it was materially\ndeceptive. An action under this paragraph shall be initiated by filing\nan application for an order to show cause in the supreme court where the\nmaterially deceptive media at issue could deceive and influence electors\nin an upcoming election. Such action shall be entitled to an automatic\ncalendar preference and be subject to expedited pretrial and trial\nproceedings.\n (v) In any action alleging a violation of this subdivision in which a\nplaintiff seeks preliminary relief with respect to an upcoming election,\nthe court shall grant relief if it determines that:\n (A) plaintiffs are more likely than not to succeed on the merits; and\n (B) it is possible to implement an appropriate remedy that would\nresolve the alleged violation in the upcoming election.\n (vi) In any action commenced under this subdivision, the plaintiff\nbears the burden of establishing the use of materially deceptive media\nby clear and convincing evidence.\n 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, or to enlarge,\nthe protections that 47 U.S.C. § 230 confers on an interactive computer\nservice for content provided by another information content provider, as\nsuch terms are defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230.\n 7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require entities to\ncancel, edit, or insert video or audio labels into political\ncommunications where such action is inconsistent with federal law.\n