Full Text of HB4933 103rd General Assembly
HB4933 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB4933 Introduced 2/7/2024, by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: | | | Creates the Digital Forgeries in Politics Act. Provides that an individual depicted in a digital forgery who is an Illinois resident and a candidate for office in this State has a cause of action against any person who knowingly distributes, or enters into an agreement with another person to distribute, a digital forgery if: (1) the distribution occurs within 90 days before a regular election; and (2) the distribution is reasonably likely to harm the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate in an election. Sets forth exceptions. Allows a court to issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction ordering the defendant to cease the display or distribution of the digital forgery. Includes additional awards to a prevailing plaintiff. |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law. | 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly: | 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Digital Forgeries in Politics Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 7 | | "Digital forgery" means any audio or visual material that | 8 | | has been created, materially manipulated, altered, or | 9 | | annotated to appear to be a realistic record of an act, speech, | 10 | | conduct, absence, or appearance of an individual that a | 11 | | reasonable person would incorrectly believe to be a true | 12 | | depiction of that individual and that falsely depicts an | 13 | | individual engaged in speech or conduct in which the depicted | 14 | | individual did not engage. | 15 | | "Regular election" has the meaning given to that term in | 16 | | Section 1-3 of the Election Code. | 17 | | Section 10. Civil action. | 18 | | (a) An individual depicted in a digital forgery who is a | 19 | | resident of Illinois and who is a candidate for office in this | 20 | | State has a course of action against any person who knowingly | 21 | | distributes or enter into an agreement with another person to | 22 | | distribute a digital forgery if:. |
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| 1 | | (1) the distribution occurs within 90 days before a | 2 | | regular election; and | 3 | | (2) the distribution is reasonably likely to harm the | 4 | | reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate in an | 5 | | election. | 6 | | (b) This Section does not apply to digitally manipulated | 7 | | audiovisual material that includes a clear and conspicuous | 8 | | disclaimer informing the viewer or listener that the media has | 9 | | been manipulated by technical means and depicts speech or | 10 | | conduct that did not occur. The following disclaimer is | 11 | | sufficient, but not necessary, to satisfy the requirements | 12 | | under this paragraph: "This (image, audio, or video) has been | 13 | | manipulated by technical means and depicts speech or conduct | 14 | | that did not occur.". | 15 | | The court shall consider the following factors in | 16 | | determining whether the disclaimer was clear and conspicuous: | 17 | | (1) if the media is a video, includes a disclaimer | 18 | | that shall: | 19 | | (A) appear throughout the entirety of the video; | 20 | | (B) be clearly visible to and readable by an | 21 | | observer; | 22 | | (C) be in letters at least as large as the majority | 23 | | of any text communication, or if there is no other text | 24 | | communication, in a size that is easily readable by | 25 | | the average viewer; and | 26 | | (D) be in the same language as the language used in |
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| 1 | | the video media; | 2 | | (2) if the media consists only of audio and contains | 3 | | no image or video, includes a disclaimer that is read at | 4 | | the beginning and end of the media in a clearly spoken | 5 | | manner, in a pitch that can be easily heard by the average | 6 | | listener, and in the same language as the audio media; | 7 | | (3) if the media is an image, includes a disclaimer | 8 | | that: | 9 | | (A) is clearly visible to and readable by the | 10 | | average viewer; | 11 | | (B) if the media contains other text, is in | 12 | | letters at least as large as the majority of the other | 13 | | text; and | 14 | | (C) is in the same language as the language used in | 15 | | the image media; and | 16 | | (4) if the media was generated by editing an existing | 17 | | image, audio, or video, includes a citation directing the | 18 | | viewer or listener to the original source from which the | 19 | | unedited version of the existing image, audio, or video | 20 | | was obtained. | 21 | | Section 15. Remedies. | 22 | | (a) A court in which an action is brought under this Act, | 23 | | on the motion of a party, may issue a temporary restraining | 24 | | order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction | 25 | | ordering the defendant to cease the display or distribution of |
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| 1 | | the digital forgery. | 2 | | (b) A prevailing plaintiff may additionally be awarded: | 3 | | (1) the greater of: | 4 | | (A) economic and noneconomic damages proximately | 5 | | caused by the creation or distribution of the digital | 6 | | forgery; or | 7 | | (B) statutory damages not to exceed $10,000 | 8 | | against each defendant found liable under this Act for | 9 | | each instance that individual distributed the media or | 10 | | for each instance the media was distributed under an | 11 | | agreement made to distribute the media; | 12 | | (2) punitive damages; or | 13 | | (3) the costs of the action, including reasonable | 14 | | attorney's fees and other reasonable litigation costs. | 15 | | (c) This Act does not affect a right or remedy available | 16 | | under any other law of this State. | 17 | | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | 18 | | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. |
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