The Vermont House took up S.23, legislation addressing the use of synthetic media in elections, amended the committee report and voted to propose the committee's recommendation to the Senate; the chamber also ordered third reading.

S.23, as reported by the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee, would require anyone who knowingly publishes, distributes or communicates deceptive or fraudulent synthetic media intended to influence an election to include a disclosure that the content was created or intentionally manipulated by artificial intelligence if the content is shared within 90 days of an election. The floor presentation emphasized the bill's intent to protect election integrity while preserving political speech, parody and satire.

The bill delegates enforcement to the attorney general or a state's attorney, authorizes civil investigations and prescribes civil fines starting at up to $1,000 for a violation and up to $5,000 if the media is intended to incite physical violence; fines escalate for repeat offenses within five years. Exemptions listed in the bill include news outlets, telecommunication companies, Internet service providers, satire/parody and paid political advertising broadcasters under the conditions described on the floor, which prompted sustained questions from members about who bears responsibility for disclosures when an outside creative vendor produces content for a paying client.

Members debated whether the bill's exemptions for broadcasters and vendors unduly limit accountability; floor presenters responded that responsibility for a disclosure typically rests with the entity that distributes or pays for the distribution of the content and that the bill uses "knowing" as a key culpability standard to avoid penalizing innocent sharers.

After floor debate and an amendment clarifying that images be explicitly included in the definition of deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media, the House voted to propose to the Senate that it amend S.23 as recommended and then ordered the bill read a third time.

Speakers during the floor debate included the Member from Charlotte (committee presenter), the Member from Manchester and other representatives who interrogated the presenter on exemptions, enforcement and free-speech implications.