Bill Text: NY A10402 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to requiring certain notice and disclosure regarding materially deceptive media in political communications.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-07 - substituted by s9678b [A10402 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10402-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10402

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 21, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Otis) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law

        AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation  to  materially  deceptive
          media in political communications

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 5 of  section  14-106  of  the
     2  election  law,  as added by section 1 of subpart B of part MM of chapter
     3  58 of the laws of 2024, is amended and a new subdivision 7 is  added  to
     4  read as follows:
     5    (b) (i) A person, firm, association, corporation, campaign, committee,
     6  or  organization  that  distributes  or publishes any political communi-
     7  cation that was produced by or includes materially deceptive  media  and
     8  [knows  or should know] has actual knowledge, which may include credible
     9  notification from a candidate, that it is materially deceptive shall  be
    10  required to disclose this use.
    11    (ii)  (1) For visual media the disclosure shall be printed or typed in
    12  a legible font size easily readable by the average  viewer  that  is  no
    13  smaller  than  other  text appearing in the visual media and in the same
    14  language used on the communication to read  as  follows:  "This  (image,
    15  video, or audio) has been manipulated".
    16    (2)  For  communication  that  is auditory, such as radio or automated
    17  telephone calls, clearly speaking the statement at the beginning of  the
    18  audio,  at  the  end of the audio, and, if the audio is greater than two
    19  minutes in length, interspersed within the audio  at  intervals  of  not
    20  greater  than  two  minutes each and in the same language as the rest of
    21  the audio used in the communication, and in a pitch that can  be  easily
    22  heard  by  the average listener satisfies the requirements of clause one
    23  of this subparagraph.
    24    (iii) This paragraph shall not apply to the following:
    25    (1) materially deceptive media that constitutes satire or parody;
    26    (2) materially deceptive media created for the purposes of  bona  fide
    27  news reporting [when the required disclosure is included] if the report-
    28  ing  clearly  acknowledges  through content or a disclosure, in a manner

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15622-01-4
        A. 10402                            2

     1  that can be easily read or heard by the average listener or viewer, that
     2  there are questions about the authenticity of the  materially  deceptive
     3  media; or
     4    (3)  initial dissemination by a platform or service including, but not
     5  limited to, a website, regularly published newspaper, or magazine, where
     6  the content disseminated  is  materially  deceptive  media  provided  by
     7  another  information  content provider when a good faith effort has been
     8  made to establish that the depiction is not materially deceptive media.
     9    (iv) A candidate whose voice or likeness appears in materially  decep-
    10  tive  media  in  violation of this subdivision may seek reasonable court
    11  costs and attorneys' fees and injunctive relief prohibiting the distrib-
    12  ution, publication or broadcasting of any materially deceptive media  in
    13  violation  of  this  subdivision  against  such individual or entity who
    14  disseminated or published such media without the consent of  the  person
    15  depicted and who knew or should have known that it was materially decep-
    16  tive.  An  action  under  this paragraph shall be initiated by filing an
    17  application for an order to show cause in the supreme  court  where  the
    18  materially deceptive media at issue could deceive and influence electors
    19  in  an  upcoming election. Such action shall be entitled to an automatic
    20  calendar preference and be  subject  to  expedited  pretrial  and  trial
    21  proceedings.
    22    (v)  In any action alleging a violation of this subdivision in which a
    23  plaintiff seeks preliminary relief with respect to an upcoming election,
    24  the court shall grant relief if it determines that:
    25    (A) plaintiffs are more likely than not to succeed on the merits; and
    26    (B) it is possible to  implement  an  appropriate  remedy  that  would
    27  resolve the alleged violation in the upcoming election.
    28    (vi)  In  any  action  commenced under this subdivision, the plaintiff
    29  bears the burden of establishing the use of materially  deceptive  media
    30  by clear and convincing evidence.
    31    7.  Nothing  in  this  section shall be construed to require broadcast
    32  service providers to cancel, edit, or insert video or audio labels  into
    33  political  communications where such action is inconsistent with federal
    34  law.
    35    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.