[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8858 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8858

 To prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to deprive or defraud 
 individuals of the right to vote in elections for public office, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2024

     Ms. Brown (for herself, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Lee of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Swalwell, Mrs. Foushee, Mr. Evans, Mr. Goldman of New 
York, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Magaziner, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Carson, Ms. Kelly of 
     Illinois, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Lee of 
  California, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Lieu, Mr. 
 Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr. Frost, 
  Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. 
Barragan, Mr. McGarvey, Mr. Landsman, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Ryan, Ms. 
 Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, 
  Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. 
McCollum, Ms. Adams, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Waters, Mr. Clyburn, 
 Ms. Pressley, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr. Cleaver) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the use of artificial intelligence to deprive or defraud 
 individuals of the right to vote in elections for public office, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Securing Elections From AI Deception 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Covered algorithm.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``covered algorithm'' 
                means a computational process described in subparagraph 
                (B) that--
                            (i) creates or facilitates the creation of 
                        a product or information;
                            (ii) promotes, recommends, ranks, or 
                        otherwise affects the display or delivery of 
                        material information;
                            (iii) makes a decision; or
                            (iv) facilitates human decision making.
                    (B) Computational process described.--In 
                subparagraph (A), a computational process described in 
                this subparagraph is--
                            (i) a computational process that uses 
                        machine learning, natural language processing, 
                        artificial intelligence techniques, or other 
                        computational processing techniques of similar 
                        or greater complexity; or
                            (ii) a deterministic computational process 
                        derived from a process described in clause (i).
            (3) Deployer.--The term ``deployer'' means any person, 
        other than an individual acting in a non-commercial context, 
        that uses a covered algorithm. Nothing in this paragraph may be 
        construed to prohibit a person who is a deployer under this 
        paragraph from treatment as a developer under this Act.
            (4) Developer.--The term ``developer'' means any person 
        that designs, codes, customizes, or produces a covered 
        algorithm, or substantially modifies a covered algorithm, 
        whether for its own use or for use by a third party. Nothing in 
        this paragraph may be construed to prohibit a person who is a 
        developer under this paragraph from treatment as a deployer 
        under this Act.
            (5) Election worker.--The term ``election worker'' an 
        individual who is an election official, poll worker, or an 
        election volunteer in connection with the administration of an 
        election for a Federal, state, or local office.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DEPRIVE OR 
              DEFRAUD INDIVIDUALS OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN ELECTIONS FOR 
              PUBLIC OFFICE.

    (a) Prohibition.--A developer or deployer shall not use a covered 
algorithm in a manner that intentionally deprives or defrauds, or 
intentionally attempts to deprive or defraud, an individual of the 
right to vote in an election for Federal, State, or local office, 
including the following:
            (1) Providing deceptive information regarding--
                    (A) the time, place, or method of voting or 
                registering to vote;
                    (B) the eligibility requirements to vote or 
                register to vote;
                    (C) the counting and canvassing of ballots;
                    (D) the adjudication of elections;
                    (E) endorsements by any person or candidate; or
                    (F) any other material information pertaining to 
                the procedures or requirements for voting or 
                registering to vote in an election for Federal, State, 
                or local office.
            (2) Using deception, threats, intimidation, fraud, or 
        coercion to prevent, interfere with, retaliate against, or 
        deter, or to attempt to prevent, interfere with, retaliate 
        against, or deter, an individual from--
                    (A) registering to vote;
                    (B) voting;
                    (C) supporting or advocating for a candidate in the 
                election; or
                    (D) serving as, executing the responsibilities of, 
                or assisting an election worker, including processing 
                or scanning ballots, or tabulating, canvassing, or 
                certifying voting results.
    (b) Penalty.--Whoever commits a violation of subsection (a) shall 
be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more 
than 1 year, or both.
    (c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect upon the 
expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. REQUIRING DISCLAIMERS ON ELECTION-RELATED CONTENT GENERATED BY 
              ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

    (a) Requirement for Persons Deploying Content.--
            (1) In general.--A deployer who uses a covered algorithm to 
        generate, in whole or in part, an image, text, video, audio, or 
        other media, and intentionally publishes such content, shall 
        include the disclaimer described in paragraph (2) if--
                    (A) the content includes a simulation, alteration, 
                or distortion of an image or video of a candidate for 
                Federal, State, or local office;
                    (B) the content includes audio simulating, 
                altering, or distorting the voice of a candidate for 
                Federal, State, or local office; or
                    (C) the content depicts information about the time, 
                place, manner, or requirements for voting or 
                registering to vote in election for Federal, State, or 
                local office.
            (2) Disclaimer described.--The disclaimer described in this 
        paragraph is either of the following:
                    (A) The following statement: ``AI Disclaimer: This 
                output was generated by artificial intelligence''.
                    (B) A symbol, similar in size and design to the 
                copyright symbol, consisting of the letters ``AI'' in a 
                circle.
    (b) Requirements for Developers.--A developer who offers the 
ability to use a covered algorithm to generate or publish any content 
described in subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (a)(1) 
shall--
            (1) provide deployers of the covered algorithm a mechanism 
        to comply with subsection (a); and
            (2) to the extent technically feasible, make the 
        disclaimers required to be included by the deployer under 
        subsection (a) permanent or unable to be easily removed.
    (c) Administration and Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
            (1) Regulations required.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue 
        regulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 
        that detail the time, place, manner, and other appropriate 
        requirements for the use of the disclaimer required by 
        subsection (a), including accessibility for persons with 
        disabilities and measures to ensure that the disclaimer is 
        appropriate to the medium in which it is published.
            (2) Additional authority.--The Commission may issue 
        regulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 
        that provide exceptions to subsection (a) in specific 
        circumstances in which it would be obvious to a reasonable 
        person that the media is a synthetic depiction of an actual 
        item, place, person, or event.
            (3) Enforcement.--
                    (A) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A 
                violation of this section or a regulation issued under 
                this section shall be treated as a violation of a 
                regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 
                Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding 
                unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
                    (B) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall 
                enforce this section and any regulation issued under 
                this section in the same manner, by the same means, and 
                with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 
                though all applicable terms and provisions of the 
                Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 
                were incorporated into and made a part of this section, 
                and any person who violates this section or a 
                regulation issued under this section shall be subject 
                to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and 
                immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission 
                Act.
            (4) Reporting requirement.--
                    (A) Public education.--During the 5-year period 
                which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
                the Commission shall undertake reasonable efforts to 
                educate the public about the meaning and use of the 
                disclaimer required by subsection (a).
                    (B) Report.--At the conclusion of the period 
                described in subparagraph (A), the Commission shall 
                submit a report to Congress on the adoption and 
                effectiveness of the disclaimer required by subsection 
                (a).
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect upon the 
expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date on which the 
Commission issues the regulations required under subsection (c)(1).

SEC. 5. DUTY OF CARE.

    (a) In General.--A developer or deployer shall not offer, license, 
or use a covered algorithm in a manner that is not safe and effective.
    (b) Safe.--For purposes of subsection (a), a covered algorithm is 
safe if--
            (1) the developer or deployer has taken reasonable measures 
        to prevent or mitigate harms identified by a pre-deployment 
        evaluation or impact assessment;
            (2) use of the covered algorithm as intended is not likely 
        to result in a violation of this Act; and
            (3) the developer or deployer evaluates the possibility of 
        not offering, licensing, or using the covered algorithm, or 
        removing a covered algorithm from use, and reasonably concludes 
        that--
                    (A) use of the covered algorithm is not likely to 
                result in substantial harm to individuals;
                    (B) the benefits to individuals affected by the 
                covered algorithm likely outweigh the costs to such 
                individuals;
                    (C) individuals can reasonably avoid being affected 
                by the covered algorithm; and
                    (D) use of the covered algorithm is not likely to 
                result in deceptive practices.
    (c) Effective.--For purposes of subsection (a), a covered algorithm 
is effective if the developer or deployer has taken reasonable steps to 
ensure that--
            (1) the covered algorithm functions at a level that would 
        be considered reasonable performance by a person with ordinary 
        skill in the art;
            (2) the covered algorithm functions in a manner that is 
        consistent with the expected performance and publicly 
        advertised performance of the covered algorithm;
            (3) the covered algorithm functions in a manner that is 
        consistent with any publicly advertised purpose or use; and
            (4) any data used in the design, development, deployment, 
        or use of the covered algorithm is relevant and appropriate to 
        the deployment context and the publicly advertised purpose.
    (d) Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
            (1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of 
        this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation 
        under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 
        (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or 
        practices.
            (2) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall enforce 
        this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with 
        the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 
        applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a 
        part of this section, and any person who violates this section 
        shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the 
        privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act.
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