Artificial intelligence; require disclosure when used in political advertisements.

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To: Elections; Technology
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Blackmon, Butler, Norwood,
Simmons (12th), Simmons (13th)

SENATE BILL NO. 2050
(As Passed the Senate)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-897, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS THAT UTILIZE 2
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DISCLOSE THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL 3
INTELLIGENCE TO THE PUBLIC; TO DEFINE WHAT IS CONSIDERED A 4
QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS 5
USED IN THIS SECTION; TO CLARIFY WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE PRESENT 6
IN AN ADVERTISEMENT TO SATISFY THE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT; TO 7
SPECIFY WHO IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE FAILURE OF DISCLOSURE OF THE USE 8
OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE; TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR FAILING 9
TO DISCLOSE THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN A QUALIFIED 10
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT; TO STATE WHERE AN AGGRIEVED PARTY OR THE 11
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY BRING SUIT AGAINST A CANDIDATE, COMMITTEE OR 12
OTHER PERSON WHO FAILS TO DISCLOSE THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL 13
INTELLIGENCE IN A QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT; AND FOR 14
RELATED PURPOSES. 15
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 16
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-897, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 17
amended as follows: 18
23-15-897. (1) The following words and phrases shall have 19
the meanings as defined in this section unless the context clearly 20
indicates otherwise: 21
(a) "Campaign materials" include any materials designed 22
to influence voters for or against any candidate, party or measure 23
to be voted on at any election, or containing information about 24
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any candidate, party or measure paid for by a candidate, political 25
committee or independent expenditure which requires disclosure 26
under campaign finance laws. 27
(b) "Publish" means the act or instance of making 28
campaign material available to the public, or to a list of 29
subscribers, by mail, telephone, electronic communications 30
platforms, internet, software applications, printed materials or 31
any other means of distribution. 32
(c) "Printed material" shall include, but not be 33
limited to, any notice, placard, bill, poster, dodger, pamphlet, 34
advertisement, sign or any other form of printed publication, 35
except notices, posters and the like, which simply announce a 36
speaking date and invite attendance thereon. 37
(d) "Qualified political advertisement" means any 38
advertisement, including, but not limited to, search engine 39
marketing, display advertisements, video advertisements, native 40
advertisements and sponsorships involving a candidate for federal, 41
state or local office in this state, any election to a federal, 42
state or local office in this state or a ballot question that does 43
both of the following: 44
(i) Contains any image, audio or video that is 45
generated in whole or in part with the use of artificial 46
intelligence; and 47
(ii) Is made by or on behalf of a candidate, 48
committee or other person. 49
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(e) "Artificial intelligence" or "AI" means a 50
machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined 51
objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions 52
influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence 53
systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and 54
virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models 55
through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference 56
to formulate options for information or action. 57
(2) No candidate, political committee or other person shall 58
publish, or knowingly cause to be published, any campaign 59
materials unless it contains the following information: 60
(a) The name of the candidate along with a statement 61
that the message is approved by the candidate; or 62
(b) If the message has not been approved by a specific 63
candidate, the name of the person, political committee or 64
organization paying for the publication of the message; or 65
(c) If the message has not been approved by the 66
candidate and no person, political committee or organization is 67
identified as having paid for the publication, the entity 68
producing the campaign materials must be identified. 69
(3) Publication of campaign materials through an electronic 70
platform shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this 71
section if the home page of the candidate or political committee 72
provides the information required by subsection (2) of this 73
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section, and each electronic publication provides a link to that 74
home page. 75
(4) A prerecorded telephone message that in express terms 76
advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified 77
candidate, or the qualification, passage or defeat of a ballot 78
question, must bear an identification that contains the name of 79
the candidate and a statement that the message is approved by the 80
candidate, or the identification of the person, political 81
committee or organization paying for the publication of the 82
message. Except as otherwise required by law, a prerecorded 83
telephone message subject to this subsection is not required to 84
contain a disclaimer. If the prerecorded telephone message is 85
generated in whole or substantially by artificial intelligence, 86
the prerecorded telephone message must contain the following 87
disclaimer: "This message was generated in whole or in part by 88
artificial intelligence." 89
(5) If a person, committee or other entity creates, 90
originally publishes or originally distributes a qualified 91
political advertisement, the qualified political advertisement 92
must include, when applicable, a clear and conspicuous statement 93
indicating the following: 94
(a) Whether the qualified political advertisement was 95
generated in whole or in part by artificial intelligence. 96
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(b) If the qualified political advertisement is a text 97
or graphic communication that was generated in whole or in part by 98
artificial intelligence, include a disclaimer that: 99
(i) Indicates what information was produced by 100
artificial intelligence; 101
(ii) Appears in letters at least as large as the 102
majority of the text in the graphic communication; and 103
(iii) Is in the same language as the language used 104
in the graphic communication. 105
(c) If the qualified political advertisement is an 106
audio communication that has been generated in whole or in part by 107
artificial intelligence, include a disclaimer that: 108
(i) Is spoken in an audible, clear and 109
intelligible manner at the beginning or end of the communication; 110
(ii) Lasts at least three (3) seconds; and 111
(iii) Is stated in the same language as the 112
language used in the audio communication. 113
(d) If the qualified political advertisement is a video 114
communication that also includes audio, the advertisement must 115
include a disclaimer that includes all of the following: 116
(i) A message that appears for at least four (4) 117
seconds in letters at least as large as the majority of any text 118
communication, or if there is no other text communication, in a 119
size that is easily readable by the average and reasonable viewer; 120
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(ii) A spoken message in an audible, clear and 121
intelligible manner at the beginning or end of the communication, 122
that lasts for at least three (3) seconds; and 123
(iii) The disclaiming message must be in the same 124
language as the language used in the video communication. 125
(6) Subsections (4) and (5) of this section do not apply to 126
any of the following: 127
(a) A radio or television broadcasting station, 128
including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer or 129
producer that broadcasts a qualified political advertisement or 130
communication generated in whole or in part by artificial 131
intelligence as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news 132
documentary or on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events, if 133
the broadcast clearly acknowledges through content or a 134
disclosure, in a manner that can be easily heard or read by the 135
average and reasonable listener or viewer, that the qualified 136
political advertisement or communication was generated in whole or 137
in part by artificial intelligence and does not accurately 138
represent the speech or conduct of the depicted individual. 139
(b) A radio or television broadcasting station, 140
including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer or 141
producer, streaming service, mobile application, or online 142
platform when the station is paid to broadcast qualified political 143
advertisements. 144
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(c) A distribution platform, including, but not limited 145
to, a website or a regularly published newspaper, magazine or 146
other periodical of general circulation, including an internet or 147
electronic publication, that routinely carries news and commentary 148
of general interest, and that publishes qualified political 149
advertisements prohibited under this section, if the distribution 150
platform has a clearly written and accessible policy that: 151
(i) Is provided to any person, committee or other 152
entity that creates, seeks to publish or originally distributes a 153
qualified political advertisement; 154
(ii) States the qualified political advertisement 155
must include a statement consistent with the disclaimers outlined 156
in subsection (5) of this section; 157
(d) A qualified political advertisement that 158
constitutes satire or parody; or 159
(e) A distribution platform, if the platform can show 160
that they provided notice of the platform's prohibitions related 161
to a lack of disclosure of content created in whole or in part by 162
artificial intelligence in a qualified political advertisement or 163
prerecorded telephone message, in compliance with subsections (4) 164
and (5) of this section. 165
(7) A person other than a committee who violates subsections 166
(4) and (5) of this section, is subject to the following 167
penalties: 168
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(a) For a first violation, the person is responsible 169
for a state civil penalty and shall be ordered to pay a civil fine 170
of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). 171
(b) For a second or subsequent violation, the person is 172
responsible for a state civil penalty and shall be ordered to pay 173
a civil fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for 174
each violation. 175
(8) A committee that violates the provisions of subsections 176
(4) and (5) of this section shall be responsible for a civil 177
penalty and shall be ordered to pay a fine of not more than One 178
Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each violation. 179
(9) Each qualified political advertisement that is 180
distributed, published, printed or aired to the public that 181
violates any of the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) of this 182
section shall be considered a separate violation each time the 183
advertisement is shown or transmitted, and shall be subject to the 184
penalties as listed in subsections (7) and (8) of this section. 185
(10) The attorney general or a candidate for office who has 186
been injured or is likely to be injured by a violation of this 187
section may apply to any of the following courts for injunctive 188
relief against a candidate, committee or other person for 189
violations of subsections (4) and (5) of this section: 190
(a) The Seventh Circuit Court District of Hinds County; 191
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ST: Artificial intelligence; require disclosure
when used in political advertisements.
(b) The circuit court for the county in which a party 192
to the alleged violation committed the act or where said person 193
resides; or 194
(c) The circuit court for the county in which the 195
violation of this section could deceive or influence voters in an 196
upcoming election. 197
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 198
and after July 1, 2026. 199