S 2437: Requires disclosure of social media posts that are paid for by a campaign; authorizes the state board of elections to promulgate certain regulations.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2437 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 17, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to requiring social media influencers to disclose when they share on social media that they are being paid by a campaign; and authorizes the state board of elections to promulgate certain regulations The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 14-106 of the election law, as amended by chapter 2 454 of the laws of 2019, subdivisions 5 and 6 as added by section 1 of 3 subpart B of part MM of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, paragraph (b) of 4 subdivision 5 as amended and subdivision 7 as added by chapter 169 of 5 the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 6 § 14-106. Political communication. 1. The statements required to be 7 filed under the provisions of this article next succeeding a primary, 8 general or special election shall be accompanied by a copy of all broad- 9 cast, cable or satellite schedules and scripts, paid internet or 10 digital, including social media posts made by individuals being paid by 11 the campaign, print and other types of advertisements, pamphlets, circu- 12 lars, flyers, brochures, letterheads and other printed matter purchased 13 or produced, and reproductions of statements or information published to 14 five hundred or more members of a general public audience by computer or 15 other electronic device including but not limited to electronic mail or 16 text message, purchased in connection with such election by or under the 17 authority of the person filing the statement or the committee or the 18 person on whose behalf it is filed, as the case may be. Such copies, 19 schedules and scripts shall be preserved by the officer with whom or the 20 board with which it is required to be filed for a period of one year 21 from the date of filing thereof. 22 2. All political committees that make an expenditure for a political 23 communication shall be required to disclose the identity of the poli- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06459-01-5 
 S. 2437 2 1 tical committee which made the expenditure for such political communi- 2 cation. The disclosure on printed or digital political communications, 3 including but not limited to brochures, flyers, posters, mailings, or 4 internet advertising, including social media posts made by individuals 5 being paid by the campaign, shall be printed or typed in an appropriate 6 legible form to read as follows: "Paid for by:" followed by the name of 7 the political committee making the expenditure. The disclosure on non- 8 printed or digital political communications shall clearly and prominent- 9 ly display and/or speak the following statement: "Paid for by:" 10 followed by the name of the political committee making the expenditure. 11 In the case of a political communication that is not visual, such as 12 radio or automated telephone calls, clearly speaking the statement will 13 satisfy the requirements of this section. 14 3. Political communications that are considered promotional items 15 which support a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 16 and limit the content of communication to the name, office and brief 17 message of support, shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivision 18 two of this section. Promotional items shall be items that are of nomi- 19 nal value and are distributed to the general public in an effort to 20 promote a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 21 including but not limited to pens, bumper stickers, yard signs, buttons, 22 shirts, bags or balloons. 23 4. Political communication that is considered digital media which 24 advertises for a particular candidate, election, ballot measure or issue 25 which limits the content of communication to the name, office and brief 26 message shall not be subject to the provisions of subdivision two of 27 this section if such digital media is unable to contain the "paid for 28 by" statement due to its small size and contains a link to another 29 webpage where the "paid for by" statement is prominently displayed. 30 Social media posts made on behalf of a particular candidate, election, 31 ballot measure or other issue shall not be exempted from the provisions 32 of this section. 33 5. (a) For purposes of this subdivision: 34 (i) "Materially deceptive media" means any image, video, audio, text, 35 or any technological representation of speech or conduct fully or 36 partially created or modified that: 37 (1) exhibits a high level of authenticity or convincing appearance 38 that is visually or audibly indistinguishable from reality to a reason- 39 able person; 40 (2) depicts a scenario that did not actually occur or that has been 41 altered in a significant way from how they actually occurred; and 42 (3) is created by or with software, machine learning, artificial 43 intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means, 44 including adapting, modifying, manipulating, or altering a realistic 45 depiction. 46 (ii) "Information content provider" means any person or entity that is 47 responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of 48 information provided through the Internet or any other interactive 49 computer service. 50 (b) (i) A person, firm, association, corporation, campaign, committee, 51 or organization that distributes or publishes any political communi- 52 cation that was produced by or includes materially deceptive media and 53 has actual knowledge that it is materially deceptive shall be required 54 to disclose this use. 55 (ii) (1) For visual media the disclosure shall be printed or typed in 56 a legible font size easily readable by the average viewer that is no 
 S. 2437 3 1 smaller than other text appearing in the visual media and in the same 2 language used on the communication to read as follows: "This (image, 3 video, or audio) has been manipulated". 4 (2) For communication that is auditory, such as radio or automated 5 telephone calls, clearly speaking the statement at the beginning of the 6 audio, at the end of the audio, and, if the audio is greater than two 7 minutes in length, interspersed within the audio at intervals of not 8 greater than two minutes each and in the same language as the rest of 9 the audio used in the communication, and in a pitch that can be easily 10 heard by the average listener satisfies the requirements of clause one 11 of this subparagraph. 12 (iii) This paragraph shall not apply to the following: 13 (1) materially deceptive media that constitutes satire or parody; 14 (2) materially deceptive media distributed by a bona fide news report- 15 ing entity for the purpose of news reporting or coverage, if the report- 16 ing clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure, in a manner 17 that can be easily read or heard by the average listener or viewer, that 18 there are questions about the authenticity of the materially deceptive 19 media; 20 (3) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable 21 television, satellite television or streaming service operator, program- 22 mer, producer or other similar entity, that broadcasts a political 23 communication when the station or streaming service is paid to broadcast 24 the political communication if the station or streaming service can show 25 that it has disclaimer requirements that are consistent with the 26 requirements provided in this paragraph and that it provided those 27 disclaimer requirements to each person or entity that purchased the 28 broadcast or streaming of the advertisement; or 29 (4) initial dissemination by a platform or service including, but not 30 limited to, a website, regularly published newspaper, or magazine, where 31 the content disseminated is materially deceptive media provided by 32 another information content provider. 33 (iv) A candidate whose voice or likeness appears in materially decep- 34 tive media in violation of this subdivision may seek reasonable court 35 costs and attorneys' fees and injunctive relief prohibiting the distrib- 36 ution, publication or broadcasting of any materially deceptive media in 37 violation of this subdivision against such individual or entity who 38 disseminated or published such media without the consent of the person 39 depicted and who knew or should have known that it was materially decep- 40 tive. An action under this paragraph shall be initiated by filing an 41 application for an order to show cause in the supreme court where the 42 materially deceptive media at issue could deceive and influence electors 43 in an upcoming election. Such action shall be entitled to an automatic 44 calendar preference and be subject to expedited pretrial and trial 45 proceedings. 46 (v) In any action alleging a violation of this subdivision in which a 47 plaintiff seeks preliminary relief with respect to an upcoming election, 48 the court shall grant relief if it determines that: 49 (A) plaintiffs are more likely than not to succeed on the merits; and 50 (B) it is possible to implement an appropriate remedy that would 51 resolve the alleged violation in the upcoming election. 52 (vi) In any action commenced under this subdivision, the plaintiff 53 bears the burden of establishing the use of materially deceptive media 54 by clear and convincing evidence. 55 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, or to enlarge, 56 the protections that 47 U.S.C. § 230 confers on an interactive computer 
 S. 2437 4 1 service for content provided by another information content provider, as 2 such terms are defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230. 3 7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require entities to 4 cancel, edit, or insert video or audio labels into political communi- 5 cations where such action is inconsistent with federal law. 6 8. The state board of elections is authorized to promulgate additional 7 regulations pertaining to the method of filing statements required to be 8 provided pursuant to this section. Such regulations shall be promulgated 9 within ninety days of the effective date of this subdivision. 10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 11 have become a law.