The Texas House of Representatives has passed a significant bill requiring political advertisements utilizing altered images, including deepfakes and synthetic media, to disclose their non-authenticity. Introduced by Dade Phelan, the legislation aims to combat deceptive advertising practices that could sway election outcomes, as emphasized by Phelan's remarks on the potential impact of misleading content on voter decisions. With a notable penalty structure, failure to comply could result in jail time or fines. While proponents argue it enhances transparency, some critics view the penalties as excessive and detrimental to political expression.
"If you don't think a deceptive ad can change one vote, you're mistaken. A deceptive ad could change 366 votes very easily," Phelan said, referring to the number of votes by which he won reelection.
"It's a very common punishment when dealing with something as important as an election. Especially in an election, I could say is a stolen election, when in the last 72 hours of a campaign, a video could be released that entirely changes the nature of the electorate going into election day."
"At the end of the day, we signed up to be scrutinized by our constituents when we do something that either goes against the will of the people or goes against their perception of what the will of the people is."
"To throw someone in jail is to silence political speech. This is insanity that we would propose such a harsh penalty for simply expressing political viewpoints."
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