AI Ads Act
United StatesMedium threat- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Became Law
Stage 1 of 4: Introduced
Would ban "fraudulent" AI-made political ads, but with no carve-out for parody. Critics say it could catch obvious satire that courts protect.
Latest update
Introduced
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This bill is still moving, so there's still time to push back.
Contact LawmakersWhat it does
H.R.9985 (Ro Khanna, with a Senate companion led by Adam Schiff) would change federal election law to ban the "fraudulent" use of AI to impersonate a candidate or committee in federal campaign ads. It drops the current requirement to prove the fake caused real harm before a case can proceed.
What’s at stake
The bill has no carve-out for parody or satire. An earlier court said that even a disclaimer rule for parody "would kill the joke." By removing the harm test, the bill could reach obvious, stylized fakes that courts have long treated as protected speech.
Our take
Deepfake fear is being used to police political speech. With no parody carve-out and no harm test, this reaches jokes and satire, not just deception. That is a speech problem, not a fraud fix.
Timeline
IntroducedLatest
Sponsor
Ro Khanna (D-CA)
Cosponsors (1)
Veronica Escobar (D-TX)
Committee
Committee on House Administration
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