A Florida Senate committee approved legislation Tuesday demanding disclosure on the use of artificial intelligence in campaign ads, with the bill’s proposer saying “it threatens the integrity of elections.”
Senate Bill 850 would require political ads to have disclaimers on content featuring images, audio, or text using generative AI. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Nick DiCeglie, a Republican, said the bill will help define AI content and regulate misleading and illusive ads by making viewers aware that AI is involved.
“This is something that is very new. This is something that we’ve seen more and more frequently, I think, as the political campaign season has been accelerating here recently,” DiCeglie said. “The technology that produces this content has advanced rapidly and outpaced government regulation.”
Concerns over AI-generated campaign ads have surfaced ahead of the 2024 election when Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) produced a political ad using AI to create a fake version of former President Donald Trump speaking in his voice as he read aloud social media posts.
DeSantis also posted a video on X last year featuring AI-generated content of Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci. Both political ads did not contain a disclaimer, as no federal regulations on AI-generated political ads existed at the time.
Democratic state Sen. Tina Scott Polsky expressed concern over the bill, saying it favors Republicans who she said have more money to spend on political campaigns.
“It is very clear that the Republican Party has a lot more money, funding, outside groups, special interest groups who help pay for campaigns than the Democratic Party has in Florida,” Polsky said. “As a result, it seems that this would be a negative for Democratic candidates.”
The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, which is controlled by Republicans, ruled 4-2 to approve the legislation, with Democrats concerned over how punishments for violation of the new rule would be applied, the Miami Herald reported.
DiCeglie said the person authorizing the ad would be held accountable and not the actual person who created it.
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“If that ad has you standing next to, say, a president, and in fact you did not stand next to that president, I think those are the questions as this bill moves through the process that we can further clarify and answer, really hone in exactly what we want this piece of legislation to do in preparing us as a state to deal with this new technology,” DiCeglie said.
If found violating the new AI regulations, candidates could be charged with first-degree misdemeanor charges. Florida is the latest state among five that have already passed legislation to address deceptive AI-generated content, according to the Florida Phoenix.
