County Boards of Education - Student Electronic Communication Device Use Policy - Establishment (Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act)
HB0525 amends Maryland election law to prohibit using fraud to influence or attempt to influence a voter’s decision, and it expressly defines “fraud” to include the use of synthetic media. The bill creates a new section addressing “deepfakes,” defined as intentionally created or manipulated images, audio, or video made with generative artificial intelligence or other digital technology that present a realistic but false depiction of a person. Under the bill, a person may not, with fraudulent intent, use a deepfake to influence a voter’s decision whether to vote or how to vote on a candidate or ballot issue.
The bill also clarifies that the prohibition does not apply to deepfakes disseminated by news media or to satire and parody. To establish a violation, the deepfake must misrepresent a material fact, be shared with knowledge or reckless disregard that it is a deepfake, and be intended to deceive a voter and affect the vote at least in part through that deception. The bill retains existing election-fraud prohibitions, including impersonation, multiple voting, and voter intimidation, and adds synthetic media to the fraud framework used in those provisions.
HB0525 would amend the Election Law Article by expanding the statutory definition of fraud to include synthetic media and by creating a specific misdemeanor offense for disseminating deepfakes with fraudulent intent to influence voting decisions. It would expose violators to a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both, and it applies existing election-related penalties and collateral consequences. The bill also includes explicit carveouts for intermediaries and media entities such as internet service providers, cloud providers, broadcasters, streaming services, and newspapers, limiting liability where their services are used by others to spread prohibited content.
The available legislative history suggests the bill moved forward with little recorded opposition. It was reported favorably with amendments in committee and later passed the House, and the Senate ultimately passed it 41-0 with amendments, indicating broad bipartisan support for addressing AI-generated election misinformation. The absence of recorded committee transcript debate in the provided materials suggests the measure was not especially controversial in the available record, at least at the final stages of consideration.
The main policy tension in the bill is between preventing election deception and avoiding overreach into protected speech or ordinary media distribution. The bill addresses that concern by excluding news media dissemination and satire/parody, and by requiring fraudulent intent, knowledge or reckless disregard, and a material misrepresentation. Another point of potential contention is the scope of liability for online platforms and communications providers; the bill expressly shields service providers and publishers from being found in violation solely because their systems are used by others to disseminate a prohibited deepfake.