Georgia HB 986 (Elections; election interference with a deep fake; establish criminal offense)

• Authority: Georgia
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2024-03-26

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• False or misleading information
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Pollution of information ecosystem

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document primarily addresses risks from malicious actors (subdomains 4.1, 4.3) using AI to spread misinformation (subdomain 3.1) and pollute the information ecosystem (3.2) in electoral contexts. It also implicitly addresses transparency (7.4) through disclosure requirements. Coverage is concentrated in misinformation and malicious use domains.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Information

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This legislation primarily governs Public Administration (elections administration) by regulating how AI-generated media can be used in electoral processes. It also impacts the Information sector through disclosure requirements for AI-generated content in campaign communications and exemptions for media platforms and service providers.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding state statute enacted by the Georgia General Assembly that establishes criminal offenses with mandatory penalties including felony imprisonment (2-5 years) and fines up to $50,000. It uses mandatory language throughout and establishes clear enforcement mechanisms through the Attorney General and State Election Board.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The document is a statute enacted by the Georgia General Assembly as indicated by the opening enactment clause and legislative structure.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_User, AI_Deployer
• Summary: The statute defines 'Person' to include employees and affiliates of political entities who create, publish, or use AI-generated deceptive media in elections, while explicitly exempting media platforms and service providers who merely sell advertising.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The statute explicitly grants the Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction for criminal prosecution (upon State Election Board recommendation) and authorizes the State Election Board and Commission to investigate violations and enforce civil penalties.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Summary: The State Election Board has investigatory authority for alleged violations and must make findings public. The Secretary of State may be authorized to investigate, and the Commission has authority to investigate complaints within 90 days of elections.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily focuses on the Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages, regulating the publication and distribution of AI-generated media in electoral contexts and establishing investigation and enforcement mechanisms. It does not substantially address model development, data collection, or system design stages.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems
• Generative AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly defines 'artificial intelligence system' and 'AI generated media,' focusing on generative AI capabilities. It does not mention frontier AI, general purpose AI, foundation models, compute thresholds, or open-source models. The emphasis is on AI systems that can generate deceptive visual and audio content depicting individuals.