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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5342
February Session, 2026
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AND OTHER MEANS TO GENERATE DECEPTIVE SYNTHETIC MEDIA
AND AFFECT ELECTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Candidate" means any individual who seeks nomination for 2
election, or election to public office whether or not such individual is 3
elected; 4
(2) "Deceptive synthetic media" means any image, audio or video of 5
an individual, and any representation of such individual's speech or 6
conduct that is substantially derived from any such image, audio or 7
video, which a reasonable person would believe depicts the speech or 8
conduct of such individual when such individual did not in fact engage 9
in such speech or conduct; 10
(3) "Election" has the same meaning as provided in section 9 -1 of the 11
general statutes; 12
(4) "Individual" means a human being; 13
(5) "Person" has the same meaning as provided in section 9-601 of the 14
general statutes; and 15
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(6) "Primary" has the same meaning as provided in section 9 -372 of 16
the general statutes. 17
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, no person shall 18
distribute, or enter into any agreement to distribute, a communication 19
containing any image, audio or video of an individual during the 20
ninety-day period preceding any election or primary if: 21
(1) Such person (A) knows or should reasonably know that such 22
image, audio or video is deceptive synthetic media, or (B) in the case 23
where the individual depicted therein is a public official or public figure, 24
acts with reckless disregard as to whether such image, audio or video is 25
deceptive synthetic media; 26
(2) The communication containing such deceptive synthetic media is 27
distributed without the consent of such individual; and 28
(3) Such distribution is intended to injure a candidate or influence the 29
result of such election or primary. 30
(c) A person may distribute, or enter into an agreement to distribute, 31
a communication containing deceptive synthetic media during the 32
ninety-day period preceding a primary or election if: 33
(1) For such deceptive synthetic media that: 34
(A) Is an image or consists only of an image, (i) a disclaimer stating 35
"This communication contains an image that has been manipulated" or 36
"This image has been manipulated", as applicable, or using substantially 37
the same words, appears in text that is clearly visible to and easily 38
readable by the average viewer, and (ii) in the case of any such image 39
that was generated by editing or manipulating an existing image, a 40
citation directing such viewer to the original source from which the 41
unedited or unmanipulated version of such existing image was 42
obtained; 43
(B) Consists only of audio, (i) a disclaimer stating "This 44
communication contains audio that has been manipulated", or using 45
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substantially the same words, is read in a clearly spoken manner, in a 46
pitch that can be easily heard by the average listener and in the same 47
language as the deceptive synthetic media and any other language such 48
person should reasonably expect such listener to speak or understand, 49
and which disclaimer is read at the beginning of such communication, 50
at the end of such communication and, if such communication is greater 51
than one minute in length, interspersed within such communication at 52
not less frequently than thirty -second intervals, and (ii) in the case of 53
any such audio that was generated by editing or manipulating existing 54
audio, a citation directing such listener to the original source from which 55
the unedited or unmanipulated version of such existing audio was 56
obtained; or 57
(C) Is a video, (i) a disclaimer stating "This communication contains 58
video that has been manipulated", or using substantially the same 59
words, appears in text that is clearly visible to and easily readable by the 60
average viewer and is in the same language as the deceptive synthetic 61
media and any other language such person should reasonably expect 62
such viewer to speak or understand, and which disclaimer appears for 63
the duration of such communication, and (ii) in the case of any such 64
video that was generated by editing or manipulating an existing video, 65
a citation directing such viewer to the original source from which the 66
unedited or unmanipulated version of such existing video was 67
obtained; or 68
(2) Such person is: 69
(A) A radio station or television station, whether broadcast, cable or 70
satellite and including, but not limited to, any producer or programmer 71
or any certified competitive video service provider, community antenna 72
television company, holder of a certificate of cable franchise authority 73
or holder of a certificate of video franchise authority, as those terms are 74
defined in section 16 -1 of the general statutes, or a streaming or other 75
digital broadcast service provider, that (i) broadcasts such 76
communication containing deceptive synthetic media as part of a bona 77
fide newscast, news interview, news documentary or other on -the-spot 78
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coverage of bona fide news events, (ii) (I) retains the disclaimer upon 79
such communication required under subdivision (1) of this subsection, 80
or (II) except in the case of any such on -the-spot coverage, adds such a 81
disclaimer at the time of such broadcast if such communication did not 82
previously include such a disclaimer, and (iii) except in the case of any 83
such on-the-spot coverage for which such person does not have reason 84
to believe that such communication contains deceptive synthetic media, 85
clearly states in the content of such broadcast that such communication 86
contains deceptive synthetic media; or 87
(B) An Internet web site or regularly published newspaper, magazine 88
or other periodical of general circulation, including, but not limited to, 89
any regularly published periodical of general circulation that is 90
published electronically or on the Internet, that (i) publishes such 91
communication containing deceptive synthetic media as part of such 92
person's routine carriage of news and commentary of general interest, 93
(ii) (I) retains the disclaimer upon such communication required under 94
subdivision (1) of this subsection, or (II) adds such a disclaimer at the 95
time of such publication if such communication did not previously 96
include such a disclaimer, and (iii) clearly states in the content of such 97
publication that such communication contains deceptive synthetic 98
media. 99
(d) Whenever a person purchases advertising space for the broadcast 100
of a communication described in section 9 -621 of the general statutes, 101
which broadcast is by an entity described in subparagraph (A) of 102
subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of this section, such entity may require 103
that such person attest, under penalties of false statement, that such 104
communication does not contain any deceptive synthetic media. If such 105
entity obtains such attestation from such person, such entity shall not be 106
liable under this section, unless such entity (1) develops knowledge that 107
such communication contains deceptive synthetic media, and (2) with 108
such knowledge, proceeds to distribute, continue to distribute or enter 109
into an agreement to distribute such communication containing 110
deceptive synthetic media. 111
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(e) (1) If an individual violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this 112
section with the intent to distribute a communication containing 113
deceptive synthetic media to an audience and such audience exceeds 114
one thousand individuals, such individual shall be guilty of a class C 115
misdemeanor, except that: 116
(A) If such violation was committed with the intent to (i) cause 117
violence or bodily harm, or (ii) distribute a communication containing 118
deceptive synthetic media to an audience and such audience exceeds ten 119
thousand individuals, such individual shall be guilty of a class A 120
misdemeanor; and 121
(B) If such violation was committed less than five years after a prior 122
conviction under subsection (b) of this section, such individual shall be 123
guilty of a class D felony. 124
(2) Any penalty imposed under subdivision (1) of this subsection 125
shall be in addition to any injunctive or other equitable relief or any 126
general or special damages ordered under subsection (f) of this section. 127
(f) (1) (A) The Attorney General, an individual described in 128
subsection (b) of this section, or a candidate who alleges that such 129
candidate has been or is likely to be injured by the distribution of a 130
communication containing deceptive synthetic media in violation of the 131
provisions of said subsection, may commence a civil action in a court of 132
competent jurisdiction seeking to permanently enjoin any person whose 133
violation of the provisions of said subsection is reasonably believed to 134
be imminent, or who is in the course of violating the provisions of said 135
subsection, and other equitable relief. 136
(B) An individual described in subsection (b) of this section, or a 137
candidate who has been injured by the distribution of a communication 138
containing deceptive synthetic media in violation of the provisions of 139
said subsection, may commence a civil action in a court of competent 140
jurisdiction seeking to recover general or special damages resulting 141
from such distribution. 142
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(2) In any civil action commenced under subdivision (1) of this 143
subsection, the plaintiff shall bear the burden of proving by clear and 144
convincing evidence that the defendant distributed, or will imminently 145
distribute, a communication containing deceptive synthetic media in 146
violation of the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. 147
(3) Any party, other than the Attorney General, who prevails in a civil 148
action commenced under subdivision (1) of this subsection may be 149
awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs to be taxed by the court. 150
(g) (1) The provisions of subsections (a) to (f), inclusive, of this section 151
shall not apply to (A) any image, audio or video of an individual, or any 152
representation of an individual's speech or conduct that is substantially 153
derived from an image, audio or video, that constitutes parody or satire, 154
provided a reasonable person would not believe that such individual in 155
fact engaged in speech or conduct as depicted in such image, audio or 156
video, or (B) any political advertising or campaign communication the 157
distribution of which is required by law, including, but not limited to, 158
47 USC 315 and any rule or regulation prescribed thereunder, as 159
amended from time to time. 160
(2) It shall not be a violation of the provisions of subsection (b) of this 161
section for a person who is required to distribute, or who is required to 162
enter into an agreement to distribute, any communication containing 163
deceptive synthetic media to do so for the purpose of complying with 164
the prohibition set forth in 47 USC 315, or any rule or regulation 165
prescribed thereunder, as amended from time to time, against 166
censorship over the material broadcast by a legally qualified candidate, 167
as defined in 47 CFR 73.1940, as amended from time to time. 168
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose liability on a 169
person engaged in the provision of (A) broadband Internet service, as 170
defined in 47 CFR 8, as amended from time to time, or a 171
telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a of the general 172
statutes, for the transmission of content provided by another person or 173
for the routine delivery of an electronic mail message, as defined in 174
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section 53 -454 of the general statutes, (B) direct -to-home satellite 175
services, as defined in 47 USC 303, as amended from time to time, or any 176
affiliate of a person providing the services described in this 177
subparagraph, or (C) cable service, as defined in 47 USC 522, as 178
amended from time to time, for the transmission of content provided by 179
another person. 180
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2026 New section
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.
JUD Joint Favorable