Broadcasters, telecoms urge disclosure-based approach for S.23 and seek liability carve-outs

Witnesses representing broadcasters and telecommunications providers told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Feb. 7 that Vermont’s proposed S.23—intended to regulate synthetic media in political advertising—should place the disclosure obligation on the advertiser and not impose new liability on broadcasters or on wireless carriers.

"We generally support the goals of S.23 and that Vermonters and constituents and viewers should understand that the media that's being presented is kind of synthetic or not," Dylan Zwicky of Leonine Public Affairs, testifying for the New England Connectivity Telecommunications Association, said. Zwicky added that broadcasters are concerned about being made the arbiter of whether a piece of content is synthetic because federal law limits broadcasters' ability to refuse political advertising under the…