HF 2549 (LSB 5506HV (1) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2549

BY  COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 599)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the conduct of elections, including the use of artificial intelligence and deceptive statements, and providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  52.7  Use of artificial intelligence prohibited.
   1.  Automatic tabulating equipment, ballot marking devices, and optical scan voting systems approved for use in this state shall not utilize artificial intelligence.
   2.  For the purposes of this section, “artificial intelligence” means a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.
    Sec. 2.  Section 68A.405, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  a.  Published material generated through the use of artificial intelligence and designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for public office or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue must contain a disclosure on the published material that the published material was generated using artificial intelligence.
   b.  Notwithstanding section 68A.701, a person who violates this subsection is guilty of a class “D” felony.
   c.  For the purposes of this subsection, “artificial intelligence” means as defined in section 52.7.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  6.  a.  Published material designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for public office or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue that includes a materially deceptive depiction of a candidate must include a statement that the published material has been manipulated.
   b.  For the purposes of this subsection, published material is materially deceptive if it has been manipulated to change the physical appearance of a candidate or depict a candidate performing an act that did not occur, or, in the case of an image, if it has been altered to change the saturation, brightness, contrast, color, or other visible quality of an image of a candidate.
   c.  Notwithstanding section 68A.701, a person who violates this subsection is guilty of a class “D” felony.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  68A.507  False representations prohibited.
   A person shall not make or publish, or cause to be made or published, a false representation about a candidate or ballot issue that is intended to or actually affects voting at an election.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the use of artificial intelligence in technologies used in elections and the publication of certain materials related to elections. The bill prohibits the use of artificial intelligence, defined in the bill, in automatic tabulating equipment, ballot marking devices, and optical scan voting systems approved for use in this state.
   The bill also requires published material generated through the use of artificial intelligence and designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for public office or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue to include a disclosure that the published material was generated using artificial intelligence. A person who fails to include such a disclosure is guilty of a class “D” felony. A class “D” felony is punishable by confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.
   The bill requires published material designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for public office or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue that includes a materially deceptive depiction of a candidate to include a disclosure that the published material has been manipulated. Under the bill, published material is materially deceptive if it has been manipulated to change the physical appearance of a candidate or depict a candidate performing an act that did not occur, or, in the case of an image, if it has been altered to change the saturation, brightness, contrast, color, or other visible quality of an image of a candidate. A person who fails to include such a disclosure is guilty of a class “D” felony.
   The bill prohibits a person from making or publishing, or causing to be made or published, a false representation about a candidate or ballot issue that is intended to or actually affects voting at an election. By operation of law, a person who violates this provision of the bill is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.