Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Friday requiring political advertisements that use artificial intelligence to include clear disclaimers, with an expectation that the measure will be signed into law.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Friday that requires political advertisements using artificial intelligence (AI) to include disclaimers.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Alex Rizo, focuses on generative artificial intelligence. The measure comes as a response to concerns about AI’s ability to produce misleading or false information, which could impact the integrity of elections, and requires political ads that use generative AI to clearly state so in a disclaimer.
The bill mandates that any political ad employing AI to simulate events or actions not based in reality must clearly state its use of such technology.
Stipulations direct that for printed communications, the disclaimer must be stated in bold font with a font size of at least 12 points. For video or radio advertisements, the disclaimer must be clearly readable throughout the communication and occupy at least 4 percent of the vertical picture height, and for online communications the disclaimer must be viewable without the user taking any action and be large enough to be clearly readable.
A verbal disclaimer must also be issued for audio communications, at least three seconds in length and spoken in a clearly audible manner at either the beginning or the end of the audio component of the communication.
“Recently, concerns have emerged regarding the use of AI in political campaigns and other election-related activities, including the use of artificially manipulated audio or video content in political advertisements, as it can be used to deceive voters or damage political rivals,” a House legislative analysis reads.
Any documented failures to include the required disclaimer can lead to a first-degree misdemeanor, in addition to any civil penalties. The bill also allows for complaints to be filed with the Florida Elections Commission for missing disclaimers, ordering the Commission to adopt rules for expedited hearings of such complaints. In situations referred to the Division of Administrative Hearings, the bill requires the assignment of an Administrative Law Judge.