House Government Operations & Military Affairs hears testimony on S 23 requiring disclosure for synthetic media in elections

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee heard testimony on S 23, a bill proposing disclosure requirements for synthetic media used to influence elections during a committee hearing (date not specified).

Supporters and state officials told the committee the bill is intended to preserve election integrity by requiring notice when images, video or audio have been synthetically produced to depict a person saying or doing something they did not actually do.

Leslie Wells, assistant attorney general and chief of the General Counsel and Administrative Law Division at the Vermont Attorney General's Office, told the committee the Attorney General's Office supports the initiative and that the proposed statutory placement would be in 17 V.S.A. chapter 35. Wells said the office “supports initiatives that ensure transparency to voters” and noted that the bill “does provide additional tools for us in terms of seeking injunctive relief.”

Wells described how the Attorney General's Office investigates…