I 

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. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. RYAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mrs. CHERFILUSMCCORMICK, 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Elections 

3 From AI Deception Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

8 (2) COVERED ALGORITHM.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered al10 gorithm’’ means a computational process de11 scribed in subparagraph (B) that— 

12 (i) creates or facilitates the creation of 

13 a product or information; 

14 (ii) promotes, recommends, ranks, or 

15 otherwise affects the display or delivery of 

16 material information; 

17 (iii) makes a decision; or 

18 (iv) facilitates human decision mak19 ing. 

20 (B) COMPUTATIONAL PROCESS DE21 SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a computa22 tional process described in this subparagraph 

23 is— 

24 (i) a computational process that uses 

25 machine learning, natural language proc26 essing, artificial intelligence techniques, or 


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1 other computational processing techniques 

2 of similar or greater complexity; or 

3 (ii) a deterministic computational 

4 process derived from a process described in 

5 clause (i). 

6 (3) DEPLOYER.—The term ‘‘deployer’’ means 

7 any person, other than an individual acting in a non8 commercial context, that uses a covered algorithm. 

9 Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to pro10 hibit a person who is a deployer under this para11 graph from treatment as a developer under this Act. 

12 (4) DEVELOPER.—The term ‘‘developer’’ means 

13 any person that designs, codes, customizes, or pro14 duces a covered algorithm, or substantially modifies 

15 a covered algorithm, whether for its own use or for 

16 use by a third party. Nothing in this paragraph may 

17 be construed to prohibit a person who is a developer 

18 under this paragraph from treatment as a deployer 

19 under this Act. 

20 (5) ELECTION WORKER.—The term ‘‘election 

21 worker’’ an individual who is an election official, poll 

22 worker, or an election volunteer in connection with 

23 the administration of an election for a Federal, 

24 state, or local office. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 

2 TO DEPRIVE OR DEFRAUD INDIVIDUALS OF 

3 THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN ELECTIONS FOR PUB4 LIC OFFICE. 

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—A developer or deployer shall not 

6 use a covered algorithm in a manner that intentionally de7 prives or defrauds, or intentionally attempts to deprive or 

8 defraud, an individual of the right to vote in an election 

9 for Federal, State, or local office, including the following: 

10 (1) Providing deceptive information regarding— 

11 (A) the time, place, or method of voting or 

12 registering to vote; 

13 (B) the eligibility requirements to vote or 

14 register to vote; 

15 (C) the counting and canvassing of ballots; 

16 (D) the adjudication of elections; 

17 (E) endorsements by any person or can18 didate; or 

19 (F) any other material information per20 taining to the procedures or requirements for 

21 voting or registering to vote in an election for 

22 Federal, State, or local office. 

23 (2) Using deception, threats, intimidation, 

24 fraud, or coercion to prevent, interfere with, retaliate 

25 against, or deter, or to attempt to prevent, interfere 


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1 with, retaliate against, or deter, an individual 

2 from— 

3 (A) registering to vote; 

4 (B) voting; 

5 (C) supporting or advocating for a can6 didate in the election; or 

7 (D) serving as, executing the responsibil8 ities of, or assisting an election worker, includ9 ing processing or scanning ballots, or tab10 ulating, canvassing, or certifying voting results. 

11 (b) PENALTY.—Whoever commits a violation of sub12 section (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States 

13 Code, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

15 upon the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. REQUIRING DISCLAIMERS ON ELECTION-RELATED 

18 CONTENT GENERATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTEL19 LIGENCE. 

20 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PERSONS DEPLOYING CON21 TENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A deployer who uses a cov23 ered algorithm to generate, in whole or in part, an 

24 image, text, video, audio, or other media, and intenVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Sep 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8858.IH H8858

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1 tionally publishes such content, shall include the dis2 claimer described in paragraph (2) if— 

3 (A) the content includes a simulation, al4 teration, or distortion of an image or video of 

5 a candidate for Federal, State, or local office; 

6 (B) the content includes audio simulating, 

7 altering, or distorting the voice of a candidate 

8 for Federal, State, or local office; or 

9 (C) the content depicts information about 

10 the time, place, manner, or requirements for 

11 voting or registering to vote in election for Fed12 eral, State, or local office. 

13 (2) DISCLAIMER DESCRIBED.—The disclaimer 

14 described in this paragraph is either of the following: 

15 (A) The following statement: ‘‘AI Dis16 claimer: This output was generated by artificial 

17 intelligence’’. 

18 (B) A symbol, similar in size and design to 

19 the copyright symbol, consisting of the letters 

20 ‘‘AI’’ in a circle. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPERS.—A developer 

22 who offers the ability to use a covered algorithm to gen23 erate or publish any content described in subparagraphs 

24 (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (a)(1) shall— 


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1 (1) provide deployers of the covered algorithm 

2 a mechanism to comply with subsection (a); and 

3 (2) to the extent technically feasible, make the 

4 disclaimers required to be included by the deployer 

5 under subsection (a) permanent or unable to be eas6 ily removed. 

7 (c) ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT BY FED8 ERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 

9 (1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 

10 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

11 the Commission shall issue regulations under section 

12 553 of title 5, United States Code, that detail the 

13 time, place, manner, and other appropriate require14 ments for the use of the disclaimer required by sub15 section (a), including accessibility for persons with 

16 disabilities and measures to ensure that the dis17 claimer is appropriate to the medium in which it is 

18 published. 

19 (2) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Commission 

20 may issue regulations under section 553 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, that provide exceptions to sub22 section (a) in specific circumstances in which it 

23 would be obvious to a reasonable person that the 

24 media is a synthetic depiction of an actual item, 

25 place, person, or event. 


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1 (3) ENFORCEMENT.— 

2 (A) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC3 TICES.—A violation of this section or a regula4 tion issued under this section shall be treated 

5 as a violation of a regulation under section 

6 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair 

8 or deceptive acts or practices. 

9 (B) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Com10 mission shall enforce this section and any regu11 lation issued under this section in the same 

12 manner, by the same means, and with the same 

13 jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 

14 applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 

15 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 

16 were incorporated into and made a part of this 

17 section, and any person who violates this sec18 tion or a regulation issued under this section 

19 shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to 

20 the privileges and immunities provided in the 

21 Federal Trade Commission Act. 

22 (4) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 (A) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—During the 5- 

24 year period which begins on the date of the en25 actment of this Act, the Commission shall unVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Sep 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8858.IH H8858

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1 dertake reasonable efforts to educate the public 

2 about the meaning and use of the disclaimer re3 quired by subsection (a). 

4 (B) REPORT.—At the conclusion of the pe5 riod described in subparagraph (A), the Com6 mission shall submit a report to Congress on 

7 the adoption and effectiveness of the disclaimer 

8 required by subsection (a). 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

10 upon the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on 

11 the date on which the Commission issues the regulations 

12 required under subsection (c)(1). 

13 SEC. 5. DUTY OF CARE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—A developer or deployer shall not 

15 offer, license, or use a covered algorithm in a manner that 

16 is not safe and effective. 

17 (b) SAFE.—For purposes of subsection (a), a covered 

18 algorithm is safe if— 

19 (1) the developer or deployer has taken reason20 able measures to prevent or mitigate harms identi21 fied by a pre-deployment evaluation or impact as22 sessment; 

23 (2) use of the covered algorithm as intended is 

24 not likely to result in a violation of this Act; and 


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1 (3) the developer or deployer evaluates the pos2 sibility of not offering, licensing, or using the cov3 ered algorithm, or removing a covered algorithm 

4 from use, and reasonably concludes that— 

5 (A) use of the covered algorithm is not 

6 likely to result in substantial harm to individ7 uals; 

8 (B) the benefits to individuals affected by 

9 the covered algorithm likely outweigh the costs 

10 to such individuals; 

11 (C) individuals can reasonably avoid being 

12 affected by the covered algorithm; and 

13 (D) use of the covered algorithm is not 

14 likely to result in deceptive practices. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE.—For purposes of subsection (a), a 

16 covered algorithm is effective if the developer or deployer 

17 has taken reasonable steps to ensure that— 

18 (1) the covered algorithm functions at a level 

19 that would be considered reasonable performance by 

20 a person with ordinary skill in the art; 

21 (2) the covered algorithm functions in a manner 

22 that is consistent with the expected performance and 

23 publicly advertised performance of the covered algo24 rithm; 


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1 (3) the covered algorithm functions in a manner 

2 that is consistent with any publicly advertised pur3 pose or use; and 

4 (4) any data used in the design, development, 

5 deployment, or use of the covered algorithm is rel6 evant and appropriate to the deployment context and 

7 the publicly advertised purpose. 

8 (d) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS9 SION.— 

10 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC11 TICES.—A violation of this section shall be treated 

12 as a violation of a regulation under section 

13 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or decep15 tive acts or practices. 

16 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Commis17 sion shall enforce this section in the same manner, 

18 by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

19 powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 

20 and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 

22 made a part of this section, and any person who vio23 lates this section shall be subject to the penalties 


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1 and entitled to the privileges and immunities pro2 vided in the Federal Trade Commission Act. 

Æ 


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