Requires disclosure of social media posts that are paid for by a campaign; authorizes the state board of elections to promulgate certain regulations.
Summary
A03929 amends New York’s Election Law to require disclosure when social media influencers or other individuals are paid by a campaign to post content on behalf of a candidate, ballot measure, or political issue. The bill treats those paid social media posts as political communications that must carry the usual “Paid for by” attribution, and it makes clear that social media posts made by individuals being paid by a campaign are not exempt from disclosure requirements.
The bill also expands and clarifies the state’s rules on political communications that use materially deceptive media, including manipulated images, video, audio, or text created with software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or similar tools. It requires a disclosure stating that the media has been manipulated, sets formatting and timing rules for visual and audio disclosures, and creates a private right of action for candidates depicted in such media to seek injunctive relief, costs, and attorneys’ fees. The bill further authorizes the State Board of Elections to adopt regulations on filing methods for the required statements.
Impact
The bill would amend Election Law section 14-106 by adding paid social media influencer posts to the list of political communications subject to disclosure and by expressly removing social media posts made on behalf of a campaign from certain small-format exemptions. It would also add new disclosure and enforcement provisions for materially deceptive media in political communications, while preserving existing federal-law limits and Section 230 protections. In practice, campaigns, committees, influencers, and other entities distributing political content would face additional disclosure obligations, and the State Board of Elections would gain authority to issue implementing regulations within 90 days of the effective date.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill has received generally favorable committee support. It passed the Assembly Election Law Committee 10-5 and the Assembly Codes Committee 20-1, indicating broad but not unanimous agreement. No committee transcript is available, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the votes suggest the measure is viewed positively by most members as a transparency and election-integrity bill.
Contention
The main points of contention appear to be the scope of disclosure requirements and the regulation of campaign speech on social media. Opponents or skeptics may be concerned that requiring disclosures from paid influencers and imposing rules on manipulated media could burden political expression, create compliance challenges, or raise enforcement and First Amendment questions. Supporters appear to favor the bill as a transparency measure aimed at preventing undisclosed campaign messaging and deceptive AI-generated or altered political content. The split committee vote in Election Law, followed by a much stronger vote in Codes, suggests some disagreement remained, but not enough to block advancement.
Same As
Requires disclosure of social media posts that are paid for by a campaign; authorizes the state board of elections to promulgate certain regulations.
Establishes the NY digital choice act requiring social media companies to provide covered users with a copy of the covered user's social graph at the request of the covered user; defines terms; provides requirements for the interoperability of covered users' data; grants the attorney general the authority to promulgate rules and regulations and enforce such provisions.
Requires the fair campaign code to require campaign literature and other mass media identify the person, political party or committee authorizing such material.
Establishes the NY digital choice act requiring social media companies to provide covered users with a copy of the covered user's social graph at the request of the covered user; defines terms; provides requirements for the interoperability of covered users' data; grants the attorney general the authority to promulgate rules and regulations and enforce such provisions.
Requires employers and third-party websites, job boards, and recruitment platforms to remove inactive job postings within a certain timeframe; authorizes the commissioner of labor to promulgate rules and regulations regarding such posting requirements and violations thereof.
Requires employers and third-party websites, job boards, and recruitment platforms to remove inactive job postings within a certain timeframe; authorizes the commissioner of labor to promulgate rules and regulations regarding such posting requirements and violations thereof.
Requires fire district elections occur on the same day as school board elections and requires that such voting day follows similar procedures to early voting; requires such election be overseen by the local county board of elections.