Bill Text: NY S09678 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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 1-0)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-06-26 - DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR [S09678 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S09678-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         9678--A

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 17, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Elections  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        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 that it is materially decep-
     9  tive shall be required to disclose this use.
    10    (ii) (1) For visual media the disclosure shall be printed or typed  in
    11  a  legible  font  size  easily readable by the average viewer that is no
    12  smaller than other text appearing in the visual media and  in  the  same
    13  language  used  on  the  communication to read as follows: "This (image,
    14  video, or audio) has been manipulated".
    15    (2) For communication that is auditory, such  as  radio  or  automated
    16  telephone  calls, clearly speaking the statement at the beginning of the
    17  audio, at the end of the audio, and, if the audio is  greater  than  two
    18  minutes  in  length,  interspersed  within the audio at intervals of not
    19  greater than two minutes each and in the same language as  the  rest  of
    20  the  audio  used in the communication, and in a pitch that can be easily
    21  heard by the average listener satisfies the requirements of  clause  one
    22  of this subparagraph.
    23    (iii) This paragraph shall not apply to the following:
    24    (1) materially deceptive media that constitutes satire or parody;
    25    (2)  materially deceptive media [created for the purposes of] distrib-
    26  uted by a bona fide news [reporting  when  the  required  disclosure  is

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15622-02-4
        S. 9678--A                          2

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