Elections: deceptive media in advertisements.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included a claim about changing the eligibility of individuals to sue for damages which is not supported in the official source material.

Elections: Rules Against Fake Media Ads

This law sets rules about election ads that use manipulated images, videos, or AI-generated content and requires clear disclosures if the ad is deceptive.

What This Bill Does

• Requires election ads to have a disclosure if they show manipulated images or videos.
• Adds new rules for how big and what color the disclosure must be in visual media.
• Exempts election ads that use AI-generated content if there's a clear warning about it.
• Expands the time period when these rules apply, from 120 days before an election to up to 60 days after.

Who It Names or Affects

• People and groups that make or share election ads
• Candidates running for federal, state, or local offices

Terms To Know

materially deceptive content

Information in an ad that is misleading and could harm a candidate's reputation or affect how people vote.

satire or parody

Humorous or exaggerated content meant to make fun of something, which may be exempt from certain rules if it’s clear enough.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens after the 60-day period following an election.
• It is unclear how strictly these new requirements will be enforced or who will enforce them.
• The bill was ordered to inactive file, meaning it may not become law as written.

Official Summary Text

AB 502, as amended, Pellerin.
Elections: deceptive media in advertisements.
Existing law prohibits a person or entity from knowingly distributing an election communication containing materially deceptive content that portrays specified candidates and officials as doing or saying something that the candidate or official did not do or say if the content is reasonably likely to harm the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate or is reasonably likely to falsely undermine confidence in the outcome of an election. Existing law applies this prohibition within 120 days of an election in California and, in specified cases, up to 60 days after an election.
Existing law exempts an election communication from this prohibition if the content includes a disclosure stating that the communication has been manipulated. Existing law requires, for visual media, that the text of this disclosure appear in a size that is easily
readable by the average viewer and no smaller than the largest font size of other text appearing in the visual media.
This bill would set forth additional requirements relating to the color and font size of the disclosure’s text. The bill would also exempt an election communication from the prohibition if the content includes a disclosure stating that the communication has been generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence. The bill would specify that the prohibition applies within 120 days of an election in California with regard to candidates for any federal, state, or local elected office and elected officials.
Under existing law, the prohibition does not apply to an advertisement or other election communication containing materially deceptive content that constitutes satire or parody if the communication includes a specified disclosure.
This bill would also
exempt an advertisement or other election communication from these prohibitions if a reasonable person would understand that the content was satire or parody.
Existing law authorizes a recipient of materially deceptive content, among others, to seek an injunction or to bring an action for general or special damages against the person, committee, or other entity that distributed or republished the materially deceptive content.
This bill would instead authorize the individual depicted in the materially deceptive content to seek the injunction or to bring the action for general or special damages.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF