Read the full stored bill text
SB0033A -1- SB 33
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
34-LS0310\A
SENATE BILL NO. 33
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY SENATOR CRONK
Introduced: 1/22/25
Referred: State Affairs, Judiciary
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act relating to defamation claims based on the use of synth etic media; relating to 1
the use of synthetic media in electioneering communications; an d providing for an 2
effective date." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 5
Sec. 09.65.360. Civil liability for defamation based on synthet ic media. An 6
action for defamation based on th e use of synthetic media is a claim for defamation 7
per se. In this section, "synthetic media" has the meaning given in AS 15.80.009(f). 8
* Sec. 2. AS 15.80 is amended by adding a new section to read: 9
Sec. 15.80.009. Synthetic media in electioneering communication s. ( a ) A 10
person may not knowingly use synthetic media in an electioneeri ng communication 11
with the intent to influence an election. 12
(b) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communica tion that 13
violates this section may bring an action in the superior court to recover damages, full 14
34-LS0310\A
SB 33 -2- SB0033A
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
reasonable attorney fees, and costs from 1
(1) the person who created the electioneering communication or 2
retained the services of another to create the electioneering communication; 3
(2) a person who disseminates an electioneering communication 4
knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media; or 5
(3) a person who removes a disclosure statement described in ( d) of 6
this section from an electioneering communication with the inte nt to influence an 7
election and knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media. 8
(c) An individual who is harme d by an electioneering communica tion that 9
violates this section may seek injunctive relief in the superio r court to prohibit 10
publication of the synthetic media. 11
(d) It is a defense to an action under this section that 12
(1) the electioneering communication included the following 13
disclosure statement: "This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated" and 14
(A) for visual media that incl uded other text, the text of the 15
disclosure statement remained vi sible throughout the entirety o f the 16
communication, was easily readable by the average viewer, and w as in a font 17
n o t s m a l l e r t h a n t h e l a r g e s t f o n t s i z e o f a n y o t h e r t e x t t h a t appeared in the 18
visual component; 19
(B) for visual media that did not include any other text, the 20
disclosure statement was in a font size that was easily readabl e by the average 21
viewer; 22
(C) for a communication that consisted of only audio, the 23
disclosure statement was read 24
(i) at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the audio, 25
and, if the audio was longer tha n two minutes in duration, at i ntervals 26
interspersed within the audio that occurred at least once every t w o 27
minutes; and 28
(ii) in a clear manner and in a pitch and at a speed that 29
was easily heard by the average listener; or 30
(2) the synthetic media constitutes satire or parody. 31
34-LS0310\A
SB0033A -3- SB 33
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
(e) An interactive computer ser vice, Internet service provider , cloud service 1
provider, telecommunications net work, or radio or television br oadcaster, including a 2
cable or satellite television ope rator, programmer, or producer , is not liable under this 3
section for hosting, publishing, or distributing an electioneer ing communication 4
provided by another person. This subsection does not prevent an individual from 5
bringing an action under (b)(3) of this section for removing a disclosure statement. 6
(f) In this section, 7
(1) "access software provider" means a provider of client, ser ver, or 8
other software or enabling tools that 9
(A) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content; 10
(B) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or 11
(C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset , 12
organize, reorganize, or translate content; 13
(2) "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system tha t, for 14
explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input the sys tem receives, how to 15
generate outputs, including pre dictions, content, recommendatio ns, and decisions that 16
can influence physical or virtual environments, with different artificial intelligence 17
systems varying in levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment; 18
(3) "electioneering communication" means a communication that 19
(A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate or political 20
party; 21
(B) is disseminated through a mailing, a newspaper, the 22
Internet, or broadcast media, i ncluding radio, television, cabl e, or satellite, to 23
an audience that includes voters who will have the opportunity to vote on a 24
candidate identified in the communication or on a candidate of a party 25
identified in the communication; and 26
(C) when read as a whole and with limited reference to outside 27
events, is susceptible of no othe r reasonable interpretation bu t as an 28
exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate; 29
(4) "interactive computer service" means an information servic e, 30
system, or access software provi der that provides or enables co mputer access by 31
34-LS0310\A
SB 33 -4- SB0033A
New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED]
multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a s ervice or system that 1
provides access to the Internet a nd such systems operated or se rvices offered by 2
libraries or educational institutions; 3
(5) "synthetic media" 4
(A) means an image, audio recording, or video recording of an 5
individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that is manipulated by artificial 6
intelligence in a manner that creates a realistic but false ima ge, audio 7
recording, or video recording and produces 8
(i) a depiction that a reas onable person would believe is 9
of a real individual in appearance, speech, or conduct but did not 10
actually occur in reality; and 11
(ii) a materially differen t understanding or impression 12
than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, origina l 13
version of the image, audio recording, or video recording; 14
(B) does not include an image, audio recording, or video 15
recording that is minimally edited, adjusted, or enhanced by ar tificial 16
intelligence without materially altering how the meaning or sig nificance of the 17
depiction would be perceived by a reasonable person. 18
* Sec. 3. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 19