NH Senate OKs bills regulating AI use in political ads and revenge porn

CONCORD — No more malarkey from Biden deepfakes. The New Hampshire Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would prohibit the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising without a disclosure.

If signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, New Hampshire will join 11 states that have passed laws limiting AI and deepfakes in political advertising. Six states, including Indiana, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, have adopted such legislation this year. More states, like Colorado and Hawaii, are considering similar bills.

The bill was amended by the Senate, meaning it must go back to the House for approval before heading to the governor’s desk.

It’s a bipartisan issue. States that lean Republican, those that lean Democrat, and those in the middle have put laws governing AI in political elections in place. In New Hampshire, HB 1596 was co-sponsored by lawmakers in both parties, including prime sponsor Rep. Angela Brennan, D-Bow, and Rep. Ralph Boehm, R-Litchfield.

HB 1596 would require a disclaimer on any political advertisement – audio, visual, or image – within 90 days of an election.

It’s necessity, she said, was made clear by the phony Biden robocall that told New Hampshire residents not to vote just a couple days before presidential primary in January.

Shortly after the Biden deepfake, Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, told USA TODAY that 2024 will likely see a “tsunami of disinformation” and that it’ll only get worse. Brennan hopes that this law, which will go into effect Aug. 1 if signed by Sununu, will help combat some of that disinformation.

Deepfake sexual images also banned

New Hampshire is also on its way to become the latest state to ban synthetic sexually explicit photos.

HB 1319, which adds to New Hampshire’s “revenge porn” law to include images made through artificial intelligence or other synthetic means, also passed the Senate Wednesday without debate.

More: 'Predator in every child's pocket': What NH parents must know about child exploitation

At least 10 states have passed some version of a ban on deepfake pornography, including New York, Florida, and Virginia.

This bill was passed without an amendment, meaning it does not need to return to the House. However, both bills have a fiscal note attached, meaning they must make one more trip to the Senate finance committee unless waived by the committee. Next Thursday is the deadline for the Senate to act on all House bills.

Sununu’s office did not return a request for comment on the bills passed by the Senate this week.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH Senate OKs bills regulating AI use in political ads, revenge porn