An act TO CREATE CRIMINAL OFFENSES RELATED TO 10 DECEPTIVE AND INJURIOUS MEDIA IN THE COURSE OF 11 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS, the official text

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.

1 State of Arkansas                       As Engrossed: H2/12/25
2 95th General Assembly
                                                A Bill

3 Regular Session, 2025                                           HOUSE BILL 1141

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5 By: Representative R. Scott Richardson

6 By: Senator J. Bryant

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8                           For An Act To Be Entitled

9   AN ACT TO CREATE CRIMINAL OFFENSES RELATED TO

10  DECEPTIVE AND INJURIOUS MEDIA IN THE COURSE OF

11  ELECTION CAMPAIGNS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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14                                        Subtitle

15                       TO CREATE CRIMINAL OFFENSES RELATED TO

16                       DECEPTIVE AND INJURIOUS MEDIA IN THE

17                       COURSE OF ELECTION CAMPAIGNS.

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19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:

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21  SECTION 1. Arkansas Code � 7-1-103(a), concerning misdemeanors under

22 the laws governing elections in the State of Arkansas, is amended to add an

23 additional subdivision to read as follows:

24  (25)(A)(i) As used in this subdivision (a)(25), "deep fake" means a

25 medium of communication that is deliberately manipulated using artificial

26 intelligence technology to appear to depict a real person performing an

27 action that did not occur for the purpose of attempting to deceive the viewer

28 into believing the action did occur and for which no reasonable observer

29 could believe there was an intent other than to injure the candidate.

30                          (ii) As used in this subdivision (a)(25), "deep

31 fake" does not include:

32                                        (a) A cartoon, caricature, or any other

33 communication that a reasonable viewer would understand to be a satirical

34 representation of the individual;

35                                        (b) A communication altered only to change the

36 saturation, brightness, contrast, color, or any other superficial quality of

    *LJH014*                                                      02-12-2025 10:02:50 LJH014
    As Engrossed: H2/12/25                          HB1141

1 the image; or

2                           (c) Any communication that is otherwise lawful

3 under the Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, � 6 or under the First Amendment

4 to the United States Constitution.

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6                (B) It shall be unlawful for a person to purposely injure

7 a candidate for office in Arkansas by:

8                           (i) Creating or causing to be created a deep fake;

9 and

10                          (ii) Publishing, distributing, or causing to be

11 published or distributed the deep fake during the period beginning ninety

12 (90) days before the date of the general election and ending on the date of

13 the general election with the knowledge that the published or distributed

14 communication was a deep fake.

15               (C) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for an

16 offense under this subdivision (a)(25) that the deep fake of the candidate

17 included a clear label on the image stating that the communication was a deep

18 fake.

19                          /s/R. Scott Richardson

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