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Committee fixes synthetic-media definition to explicitly cover images
Summary
Legislative counsel said the committee's S.23 amendment replaces the word 'recording' with 'representation' so deceptive synthetic media definition clearly includes images as well as audio and video; committee recorded an informal favorable thumbs poll.
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on May 29 approved a technical amendment to S.23 clarifying that the bill’s definition of deceptive synthetic media includes images.
Rick Segal, an attorney with the Office of Legislative Counsel, told the committee he discovered that the committee-reported version’s use of the word “recording” could be read to exclude images. He offered an amendment, cosponsored by Rep. Waters Evans, that replaces “recording” with “representation” and removes the phrase “saying or doing something,” so that a synthetic image that a reasonable person believes is authentic would fall within the statute’s reach.
Segal explained the change as corrective and technical: “We’re replacing recording with representation, which I think would include images as well as audio and video,” he said, adding that the edit “makes it cleaner language.”
The committee took an informal thumbs poll on the amendment; the clerk recorded the result as 8-0-3 in favorability.
Ending: Counsel described the amendment as technical; the committee indicated an informal favorable position and moved the bill forward for further action on the floor.
