Montana Title 13. Elections § 13-35-802. Use of deepfakes in election communications and electioneering communications--disclosure requirements--exceptions

(1)(a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), a person, corporation, committee, political party, or other entity, working in an official election capacity, may not, within 60 days of the initiation of voting in an election at which a candidate for elective office appears on the ballot, pay for or sponsor the production, creation, or distribution of an election communication or an electioneering communication that the person, corporation, committee, political party, or other entity knew or should have known is a deepfake of a candidate or political party on the ballot.

(b) The prohibition in subsection (1)(a) does not apply to an election communication or electioneering communication that includes a disclosure stating, “This __________ (image/audio/video/multimedia) has been significantly edited by artificial intelligence and depicts speech or conduct that falsely appears to be authentic or truthful”.

(c) The disclosure required in subsection (1)(b) must:

(a) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable television, satellite television, streaming service operator, or website, or programmer or producer, may broadcast or transmit a deepfake as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of a bona fide news event if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through context or a disclaimer, in a manner that can be easily read or heard, that content being broadcast or transmitted may be generated in whole or in part by using artificial intelligence and may not accurately represent the speech or conduct of the depicted individual;

(b) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable television, satellite television, streaming service operator, or website, or programmer or producer, when it is paid to broadcast a deepfake, or in cases in which federal law requires broadcasters to air advertisements from legally qualified candidates;

(c) a deepfake that constitutes satire or parody;

(d) a distribution platform may publish, post, or distribute an advertisement or a prerecorded phone message if the distribution platform shows that its disclaimer requirements are consistent with the requirements provided in subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c) and that it provided those disclaimer requirements to the person that purchased the distribution of the advertisement or prerecorded phone message by or on the distribution platform;  or

(e) a provider of an interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 230, or an information service or a telecommunications service, both as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153, for content provided by another party.