Bill mandating disclaimers on AI-generated Florida political ads passes committee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill unanimously passed through a Florida House committee that would mandate disclaimers on political ads that contain certain content generated through AI, or artificial intelligence.
The bill, HB 919, carried by Rep. Alex Rizo, R-Hialeah, passed 12-0 in the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee Monday and has one more committee stop before being voted on by the full House.
Rizo explained the disclaimer must state that the ad was created “in whole” or “in part” with the use of “generative artificial intelligence.”
The bill defines “generative artificial intelligence” as a “machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content including images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content,” according to the bill’s analysis.
Rizo said increasing access of sophisticated AI generated content “threatens the integrity of elections” by “facilitating the dissemination or of misleading or completely fabricated information that appears more realistic than ever.”
Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, is carrying a similar bill, SB 850, which is working its way through the Senate.
The Florida Election Code requires certain disclaimers for political advertisements, electioneering
communications, miscellaneous advertisements and voter guides, the analysis said.
Such disclaimers generally must disclose who has paid for or sponsored the advertisement or electioneering communication.
The Florida Elections Commission has jurisdiction to investigate and determine campaign finance violations, as well as other violations of the Florida Election Code.
The bill permits a complaint to be filed with the commission if such disclaimer is not included on the advertisement or communication.
Lastly, the bill requires the commission to adopt rules to provide for expedited hearings of such complaints.
“Voters are entitled to accurate and truthful information about political candidates and issues,” Rizo said. “This bill establishes a framework for holding political candidates and committees accountable for the content they disseminate.”
Rep. Katherine Waldron, D-Wellington, asked Rizo about the visibility of the disclaimer.
Rizo said there are amendments “in the works,” and that he may present those amendments at the next committee stop. One amendment relates to the size of the font.
If passed, the bill will take effect July 1.
