Senate committee debates S.23 on synthetic media in elections; seeks AG and secretary of state input

The Senate Government Operations Committee on Thursday resumed testimony on S.23, an act "relating to the use of synthetic media in elections," hearing testimony from Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, and Chris Gilrein of TechNet and discussing whether the bill should require labels, prohibit certain content, or place legal responsibility on platforms and broadcasters.

Burns, representing the consumer and environmental advocacy group VPIRG, told the committee "the threat is quite severe that voters can't be misled, and essentially misled," and urged stronger restrictions than simple disclosure. "A label alone, a label in English, you know, it only goes so far," he said, adding he would "love to see them prohibited" where legally possible.

The debate centered on three themes: (1) how broadly to define ‘‘synthetic’’ or ‘‘deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media,’’ (2) whether liability or enforcement should fall on creators, the platforms that distribute content, or the broadcasters that carry paid advertising, and (3) whether reliable technical tools exist to detect AI-generated media.

Chris Gilrein, representing TechNet, urged narrower legal exposure for…