Digital Content Provenance Initiative/Funds.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 738

Short Title: Digital Content Provenance Initiative/Funds. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Salvador, Theodros, and Garrett (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S738-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT CREATING THE DIGITAL CONTENT PROV ENANCE INITIATIVE AN D 2
APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1.(a) The following definitions apply to this act: 5
(1) Synthetic media. – Content that has been partially or fully generated, altered, 6
or manipulated by artificial intelligence or machine learning technologies, 7
including but not limited to video, audio, text, and images. 8
(2) Provenance. – Verifiable information about the origin, creation, and 9
modification history of a piece of digital content, including any 10
transformations applied. 11
(3) Cryptographic authentication. –The use of secure digital methods, such as 12
watermarking or signatures, to confirm the origin and integrity of content. 13
(4) State-generated content. – Any official communication, media, or digital file 14
created or disseminated by a State agency, department, or official in the course 15
of their duties. 16
(5) False attribution. – Digital content that inaccurately represents it self as 17
originating from a government official or agency. 18
SECTION 1.(b) There is established the Digital Content Provenance Initiative 19
(Initiative). The Initiative shall be implemented in phases. 20
SECTION 1.(c) Phase I shall be coordinated jointly by the Department of Commerce 21
and the Department of Information Technology to protect North Carolina residents from the 22
growing threats posed by synthetic media and AI-generated content. This initiative shall develop 23
and implement cryptographic authentication standards for digital content across State platforms, 24
official communications, and election -related public information, to mitigate digital 25
misinformation that poses an escalating threat to consumers, the public trust, election integrity, 26
and information auth enticity. The initiative shall also study methods to detect and deter false 27
attribution of synthetic media to public officials, election authorities, or government agencies. 28
Where feasible, the Initiative will lead the State's effort to adopt or align with existing 29
open technical standards for content provenance and authenticity, including but not limited to the 30
standards developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), the 31
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and other relevant multis takeholder or international 32
organizations. The Initiative may pilot implementations of C2PA -compliant metadata, 33
watermarking, or signature protocols in collaboration with industry partners. 34
SECTION 1.(d) To ensure transparency and accountability, the Init iative shall 35
establish a Digital Content Provenance Advisory Board. The Board shall include representatives 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 738-First Edition
from civil liberties organizations, academic institutions, media organizations, cybersecurity 1
experts, and the technology industry. The Board shall advise on technical standards, privacy 2
safeguards, civil liberties impacts, and implementation strategies. The Initiative shall also publish 3
quarterly progress updates and a public comment portal. 4
SECTION 2.(a) Effective July 1, 2025, there is appropriated from the General Fund 5
to the Department of Commerce the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for the 6
2025-2026 fiscal year to carry out the purposes of Phase I, including the development of 7
comprehensive content authentication framework for No rth Carolina's digital communications 8
infrastructure that: 9
(1) Implements cryptographic verification protocols for all state-generated media. 10
(2) Creates a secure content provenance registry for official State 11
communications. 12
(3) Develops public education resources on identifying potential synthetic 13
content. 14
(4) Partners with technology companies to integrate provenance standards. 15
SECTION 2.(b) These funds may be used to engage consultants, develop technical 16
infrastructure, increase staff expertise, conduc t public education campaign, and to support 17
ongoing threat assessment. 18
SECTION 3. By December 1, 2025, the Department of Commerce and the 19
Department of Information Technology shall submit an interim Phase I report to the General 20
Assembly and publish it on a public website. This report shall include a summary of technical 21
progress, public input received, initial recommendations for election -year implementation, and 22
early indicators of public risk. A final Phase I report, with recommendations for Phase II, s hall 23
be submitted by March 1, 2026. 24
SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 25
law. 26