Assembly Bill A11646

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   11646
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               July 29, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Shrestha) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to political communication
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 5 of  section  14-106  of  the
 election  law, as amended by chapter 169 of the laws of 2024, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (b) (i) A person, firm, association, corporation, campaign, committee,
 or organization [that distributes or publishes] SHALL NOT DISTRIBUTE any
 political communication that was  produced  by  or  includes  materially
 deceptive  media  [and has actual knowledge that it is materially decep-
 tive shall be required to disclose this use].
   (ii) [(1) For visual media the disclosure shall be printed or typed in
 a legible font size easily readable by the average  viewer  that  is  no
 smaller  than  other  text appearing in the visual media and in the same
 language used on the communication to read  as  follows:  "This  (image,
 video, or audio) has been manipulated".
   (2)  For  communication  that  is auditory, such as radio or automated
 telephone calls, clearly speaking the statement at the beginning of  the
 audio,  at  the  end of the audio, and, if the audio is greater than two
 minutes in length, interspersed within the audio  at  intervals  of  not
 greater  than  two  minutes each and in the same language as the rest of
 the audio used in the communication, and in a pitch that can  be  easily
 heard  by  the average listener satisfies the requirements of clause one
 of this subparagraph.
   (iii)] This paragraph shall not apply to the following:
   (1) materially deceptive media that constitutes satire or parody;
   (2) materially deceptive media distributed by a bona fide news report-
 ing entity for the purpose of news reporting or coverage, if the report-
 ing clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure,  in  a  manner
 that can be easily read or heard by the average listener or viewer, that
 there  are  questions about the authenticity of the materially deceptive
 media;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD16068-02-6
 A. 11646                            2
 
   (3) a radio or television  broadcasting  station,  including  a  cable
 television, satellite television or streaming service operator, program-
 mer,  producer  or  other  similar  entity,  that broadcasts a political
 communication when the station or streaming service is paid to broadcast
 the political communication if the station or streaming service can show
 that  it  has  disclaimer  requirements  that  are  consistent  with the
 requirements provided in this  paragraph  and  that  it  provided  those
 disclaimer  requirements  to  each  person  or entity that purchased the
 broadcast or streaming of the advertisement; or
   (4) initial dissemination by a platform or service including, but  not
 limited to, a website, regularly published newspaper, or magazine, where
 the  content  disseminated  is  materially  deceptive  media provided by
 another information content provider.
   [(iv)] (III) A candidate whose voice or likeness appears in materially
 deceptive media in violation of this  subdivision  may  seek  reasonable
 court  costs  and  attorneys' fees and injunctive relief prohibiting the
 distribution, publication or broadcasting of  any  materially  deceptive
 media in violation of this subdivision against such individual or entity
 who  disseminated  or  published  such  media without the consent of the
 person depicted and who knew or should have known that it was materially
 deceptive. An action under this paragraph shall be initiated  by  filing
 an application for an order to show cause in the supreme court where the
 materially deceptive media at issue could deceive and influence electors
 in  an  upcoming election. Such action shall be entitled to an automatic
 calendar preference and be  subject  to  expedited  pretrial  and  trial
 proceedings.
   [(v)]  (IV)  In any action alleging a violation of this subdivision in
 which a plaintiff seeks preliminary relief with respect to  an  upcoming
 election, the court shall grant relief if it determines that:
   [(A)]  (1)  plaintiffs  are  more  likely  than  not to succeed on the
 merits; and
   [(B)] (2) it is possible to implement an appropriate remedy that would
 resolve the alleged violation in the upcoming election.
   [(vi)] (V) In any action commenced under this subdivision, the  plain-
 tiff  bears  the  burden of establishing the use of materially deceptive
 media by clear and convincing evidence.
   (VI) ANY PERSON, FIRM, ASSOCIATION, CORPORATION, CAMPAIGN,  COMMITTEE,
 OR  ORGANIZATION FOUND GUILTY UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF THIS PARAGRAPH
 SHALL FORFEIT TO THE BOARD A SUM NOT EXCEEDING TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS  FOR
 EACH  AND EVERY OFFENSE AND THREE TIMES THE TOTAL AMOUNT SPENT ON CREAT-
 ING AND PROMOTING THE MATERIALLY DECEPTIVE MEDIA.  THE BOARD SHALL ANNU-
 ALLY REDISTRIBUTE ANY FUNDS RECEIVED AS A RESULT OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH TO
 ALL LOCAL BOARDS OF ELECTION. THE FUNDS  SHALL  BE  DISTRIBUTED  PROPOR-
 TIONALLY  BASED  ON THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS SERVED BY THE LOCAL BOARD OF
 ELECTION AS DETERMINED BY THE MOST RECENT DECENNIAL CENSUS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.