(1)(a) 1 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 candidateCandidate"Candidate" has the same meaning as provided in 13-1-101(8) and, for the purposes of [sections 1 through 4], also includes an incumbent or current officeholder.Section 1(2) 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 candidateCandidate"Candidate" has the same meaning as provided in 13-1-101(8) and, for the purposes of [sections 1 through 4], also includes an incumbent or current officeholder.Section 1(2) or political party on the ballot.

(1)(b)–(c) 2 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: (i) for a printed communication, be stated in bold font with a font size of at least 12 points; (ii) for a television or video communication, be clearly readable throughout the communication and occupy at least 4% of the vertical picture height; (iii) for a public internet communication that includes text or graphic components, be viewable without the user taking any action and be large enough to be clearly readable; or (iv) for an audio component of a communication, be at least 8 seconds in length and be spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible manner at either the beginning or the end of the audio component of the communication.

(2)(a)–(e) The prohibition in subsection (1)(a) and the penalties in [sections 3 and 4] do not apply to the following: (a) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable television, satellite television, or streaming service operator, or website, or programmer, or producer, may broadcast or transmit a deepfakeDeepfake"Deepfake" means AI-generated content or synthetic media that depicts a candidate or political party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or party or otherwise deceive a voter. A deepfake: (a) appears to a reasonable person to depict an individual saying or doing something that did not occur in reality; or (b) provides a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the appearance, action, or speech than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording, or video recording.Section 1(3) 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, or streaming service operator, or website, or programmer, or producer, may broadcast a deepfakeDeepfake"Deepfake" means AI-generated content or synthetic media that depicts a candidate or political party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or party or otherwise deceive a voter. A deepfake: (a) appears to a reasonable person to depict an individual saying or doing something that did not occur in reality; or (b) provides a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the appearance, action, or speech than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording, or video recording.Section 1(3), or in cases in which federal law requires broadcasters to air advertisements from legally qualified candidatesCandidate"Candidate" has the same meaning as provided in 13-1-101(8) and, for the purposes of [sections 1 through 4], also includes an incumbent or current officeholder.Section 1(2); (c) a deepfakeDeepfake"Deepfake" means AI-generated content or synthetic media that depicts a candidate or political party with the intent to injure the reputation of the candidate or party or otherwise deceive a voter. A deepfake: (a) appears to a reasonable person to depict an individual saying or doing something that did not occur in reality; or (b) provides a reasonable person a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the appearance, action, or speech than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original version of the image, audio recording, or video recording.Section 1(3) that reasonably constitutes satire or parody may be published, posted, or distributed if the advertisement includes a disclaimer consistent with the requirements provided in subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c); (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.

(1)–(2) In addition to any other penalties or remedies provided by law, a candidateCandidate"Candidate" has the same meaning as provided in 13-1-101(8) and, for the purposes of [sections 1 through 4], also includes an incumbent or current officeholder.Section 1(2) or political party representing the candidateCandidate"Candidate" has the same meaning as provided in 13-1-101(8) and, for the purposes of [sections 1 through 4], also includes an incumbent or current officeholder.Section 1(2) aggrieved by a violation of [section 2] may maintain an action against any violator in any court of equitable jurisdiction to prevent, restrain, or enjoin the violation. (2) An action commenced pursuant to subsection (1) must be expedited by the district court and given preference over all other matters currently before the district court upon showing of present or ongoing harm.

(3)–(4) If a violation of [section 2] is established, the court shall enjoin and restrain to otherwise prohibit the violation and, in addition, shall assess in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant the costs of the suit and reasonable attorney fees. (4) In the action, it is not necessary that actual damages to the plaintiff be alleged or proved, but when alleged and proved, the plaintiff in the action, in addition to injunctive relief and fees and costs of suit, is entitled to recover from the defendant the amount of actual damages sustained by the plaintiff and up to $10,000 in punitive damages.

(5) In any civil action alleging a violation of [section 2], the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the violation by clear and convincing evidence.

(1) A complaint of [section 2] may be filed with the commissioner of political practices pursuant to 13-37-111. A sufficiency finding from the commissioner of an investigation into a complaint filed under 13-37-111 is subject to civil penalties under 13-37-128 imposed by the commissioner or county attorney.

(2) A second sufficiency finding by the commissioner must be referred to the county attorney for misdemeanor prosecution. Upon conviction, a violation is punishable by a fine of not more than $500, imprisonment in county jail for not more than 6 months, or both.

(3) A third sufficiency finding by the commissioner must be referred to the attorney general or county attorney for felony prosecution. Upon conviction, a violation is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000, imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 2 years, or both.

(4)–(5) All penalties accruing under this section are cumulative to each other, and a suit for or recovery of one is not a bar to the recovery of any other penalty. (5) A prosecution under this section is not a bar to enforcement by injunction or other appropriate civil or administrative remedies.

[Sections 1 through 4] are intended to be codified as a new part of Title 13, chapter 35, and the provisions of Title 13, chapter 35, apply to [sections 1 through 4].

If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.