The Senate State Government and Elections Committee heard public testimony on Senate Bill 5817, which would restrict usage of synthetic media “deep fakes” in campaigns for elective office.
SB 5817 – 2021-22
Bill Information: Restricting the use of synthetic media in campaigns for elective office. Bill Information Page (link)
Sponsors: Frockt, Dhingra, Liias, Stanford
Status: Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections held January 26th.
Status: Public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government & Elections held January 26th.
Brief Summary of Bill
Full Senate Bill Report
- Requires a disclosure when any manipulated audio or visual media of a candidate is used in an electioneering communication.
- Creates a cause of action for candidates whose voices or likenesses appear in synthetic media distributed without disclosure.
- Provides exceptions for parody and news reporting.
What Is A Deep Fake?
Deep fakes rose to prominence in 2017 on Reddit. They are in their most well known form a videos with one person’s face convincingly replaced by a computer-generated face, which most often resembles a second known individual. The “deep” in deep fake refers to “deep learning.”
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