[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4611 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4611
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit the
distribution, with actual malice, of certain political communications
that contain materially deceptive audio generated by artificial
intelligence which impersonate a candidate's voice and are intended to
injure the candidate's reputation or to deceive a voter into voting
against the candidate, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2023
Mr. Espaillat 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 prohibit the
distribution, with actual malice, of certain political communications
that contain materially deceptive audio generated by artificial
intelligence which impersonate a candidate's voice and are intended to
injure the candidate's reputation or to deceive a voter into voting
against the candidate, 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 ``Candidate Voice Fraud Prohibition
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the prohibitions on paid-for
political communications contained within this Act serve the purpose of
furthering a compelling government interest by serving the
informational interest of voters by preventing voters from hearing
materially deceptive and intentionally falsified renderings of
candidate voices in political communications, as this type of malicious
content in political communications is innately harmful to free and
fair elections.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN PAID-FOR POLITICAL
COMMUNICATIONS THAT CONTAIN MATERIALLY DECEPTIVE AUDIO
GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WHICH IMPERSONATE A
CANDIDATE'S VOICE.
(a) In General.--Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 325. PROHIBITION ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS
THAT CONTAIN MATERIALLY DECEPTIVE AUDIO GENERATED BY
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), with
respect to a communication described in section 318(a) for which a
disbursement is made, no person, political committee, or other entity
may distribute such a communication if the communication--
``(1) contains materially deceptive audio generated by
artificial intelligence which impersonates a candidate's voice;
``(2) is distributed with actual malice;
``(3) is intended to injure the candidate's reputation or
to deceive a voter into voting against the candidate; and
``(4) is distributed--
``(A) within 90 days of a general, special, or
runoff election of the office sought by the candidate;
or
``(B) within 60 days of a primary or preference
election, or a convention or caucus of a political
party that has authority to nominate a candidate for
the office sought by the candidate.
``(b) Inapplicability to Certain Entities.--This section does not
apply to the following:
``(1) A radio or television broadcasting station, including
a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or
producer, when it is paid to broadcast materially deceptive
audio.
``(2) A radio or television broadcasting station, including
a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or
producer, that broadcasts materially deceptive audio as part of
a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-
the-spot coverage of bona fide news events.
``(3) Materially deceptive audio that clearly constitutes
satire or parody, as determined by the Commission.
``(4) An internet website, or a regularly published
newspaper, magazine, or other periodical of general
circulation, including an internet or electronic publication,
that routinely carries news and commentary of general interest,
and that publishes materially deceptive audio.
``(5) An interactive computer service provider, information
content provider, or an access software provider as described
in section 230(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
230(f)) who publishes or permits the circulation of materially
deceptive audio.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions
apply:
``(1) Materially deceptive audio.--The term `materially
deceptive audio' means audio or video audio that--
``(A) mimics the voice of a candidate for election
for Federal office in such a manner that the audio
would falsely appear to a reasonable person to be the
authentic voice of that candidate and the use of that
audio has not been pre-approved by the candidate; and
``(B) does not contain in the communication
containing the audio a clear, conspicuous, and overt
disclaimer indicating that the audio used in the
communication was not actually spoken by the candidate
in question, as determined by the Commission.
``(2) Actual malice.--The term `actual malice' means
knowledge that certain audio or video audio was created using
artificial intelligence in order to create a false
representation, or a reckless disregard of whether the audio or
video audio was, in fact, genuine.
``(3) Generated by artificial intelligence.--The term
`generated by artificial intelligence' means audio or video
audio that is created, in whole or in part, by a computer-based
learning algorithm that is able to successfully mimic the
pitch, pace, and tone, or any combination thereof, of an actual
person's voice.''.
(b) Criminal Penalties.--Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by adding at
the end the following new subparagraph:
``(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of
section 325 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or
imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.''.
(c) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations to
provide guidance with respect to--
(1) how to determine if a materially deceptive audio is
clearly satire or parody for the purposes of section 325(b) of
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by
subsection (a); and
(2) what constitutes a clear, conspicuous, and overt
disclaimer for the purposes of section 325(c)(1) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by subsection (a).
(d) Report Requirement.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Federal
Election Commission shall submit a report to the Committee on House
Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Rules and Administration of the Senate on--
(1) matters relating to compliance with and the enforcement
of the requirements of section 325 of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971, as added by subsection (a); and
(2) recommendations for any modifications to such section
to ensure compliance with such section.
(e) Effective Date.--This section and the amendments made by this
section shall take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
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