Ban Visual AI Use In Political Campaigns In Minnesota.

 

The purpose of this bill is to ban the use of visual AI impersonation of political figures in campaigns within

Minnesota.

 

 

There’s no doubt that AI has rapidly advanced in the past couple of years, especially regarding its use of audio and

visual components of media. Recently, AI has taken center stage in being used within political campaigns and propaganda

nationally. This use of AI contributes to intentional voter manipulation by the opposition, as these AI videos show the

opposing candidate saying things personally degrading to themselves. In the New York mayoral race, for example,

candidate Andrew Cuomo posted an AI video of other candidates Zohran Mamdani and Curtis Silwa saying damaging things

about their own campaigns, most of which was misleading and slander. This bill will prevent the use of AI to spread

harmful and misleading information about political figures in Minnesotan electoral races, and strictly punish those who

do not comply.

 

 

AI: Artificial Intelligence, a machine-based system that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.

 

 

No funding will be needed for the passing of this bill

 

 

A minor usage of visual or auditory AI that is promptly taken down after warnings issued by the Minnesota Campaign

Finance and Public Disclosure Board will receive a $1,000 fine.

A fine of $5,000 will be issued if the AI content was misleading, but did not heavily affect the election process.

A fine of $25,000 will be issued for an intentional violation of this bill that spread malicious and harmful content

about the opponent, including deepfakes, that significantly affected the election process.

 

 

The bill will take effect June 1, 2026.