HB2394 - 562R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 16, chapter 7, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-1023, to read:

START_STATUTE16-1023. Digital impersonation of candidate or other person; injunctive relief; expedited relief

A. A candidate for public office who will appear on the ballot in this state or any citizen of this state may bring an action for digital impersonation within two years after the date that the person knows, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should know, that a digital impersonation of that person was published. The sole remedy on this cause of action is preliminary and permanent declaratory relief except as otherwise expressly provided by this section. To prevail on an action prescribed by this section, a plaintiff must prove all of the following by a preponderance of the evidence:

1. That a digital impersonation of the person was published to one or more other persons without the person's consent.

2. That on publication:

(a) The publisher did not reasonably convey to the persons to whom the publication was made that the recording or image was a digital impersonation or that its authenticity was disputed; or

(b) It was not otherwise obvious to the person or persons to whom the publication was made that the recording or image was a digital impersonation.

B. If the digital impersonation is or is part of a paid advertisement, a cause of action for declaratory judgment of digital impersonation may be brought only as against the person or entity which originated, ordered, placed or paid for the advertisement.

C. For purposes of this section, no provider of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

D. A person bringing an action for digital impersonation may petition the superior court for the county in which he or she resides or, if the person is a candidate for president, in Maricopa county or in any county in which one of the candidate's appointees for elector resides, for a preliminary judicial declaration that a recording or image is a digital impersonation. the court shall rule on the petition within two days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and state holidays, after the petition is filed. preliminary declaratory relief shall be granted only if the person is able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the elements of digital impersonation and any of the following additional requirements are met:

1. The person is a candidate for public office and an election is scheduled to be held for that public office within one hundred eighty days of the date that the relief is requested.

2. The digital impersonation depicts the person engaging in a sexual act or depicts the unclothed breasts, buttocks or genitals of the person.

3. The digital impersonation depicts the person engaging in a criminal act.

4. In the absence of expedited relief, the person can be reasonably expected to suffer significant personal or financial hardship or loss of employment opportunities.

5. In the absence of expedited relief, the person's reputation will be irreparably harmed.

6. The interests of justice otherwise require.

E. The publisher of the alleged digital impersonation shall have the right to appear, be heard and present evidence prior to the court's entry of a preliminary declaratory judgment and the plaintiff shall make all reasonable efforts to provide both service and actual notice immediately upon filing the complaint. If the publisher does not appear and no other party intervenes as a defendant, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to taxable costs.

F. Actions in which the petitioner is a candidate, public official or is otherwise a public figure shall be deemed to have been abated if the publisher does not appear and no other party intervenes as a defendant within 30 days of the court’s issuance of a preliminary declaratory judgment. If this subsection or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without this subsection, and to this end this subsection is severable.

G. A person bringing an action for digital impersonation additionally has the right to recover injunctive relief and damages if all of the following requirements are met:

1. The digital impersonation depicts the person engaging in a sexual act or depicts the unclothed breasts, buttocks or genitals of the person.

2. The person was not a public figure at the time the cause of action accrued.

3. The elements of subsection A of this section are proven by clear and convincing evidence.

4. The person proves, by clear and convincing evidence, that the publication was made with actual knowledge that the recording or image was a digital impersonation or, if a digital impersonation was published without such knowledge, that the publisher failed to take reasonable corrective action within 21 days after the publisher had actual knowledge that the recording or image was a digital impersonation. Reasonable corrective action shall include removing or disabling access to the digital impersonation or publishing to the same audience a statement that the publication was a digital impersonation.

H. Any factual determinations made by the court in a request for preliminary relief under subsection D of this section shall not be considered by the trier of fact at any later stage of the proceeding.

I. A parent or guardian of a minor child or incapacitated person may seek relief under this section on the minor child's or incapacitated person's behalf.

J. This section shall be narrowly construed in favor of both free and open discourse on matters of public concern and artistic expression and shall not be construed so as to deny or disparage any cause of action otherwise available.

K. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit a party's constitutional right to trial by jury. Both parties to actions seeking only permanent declaratory relief retain the right to trial by jury.

L. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Appear on the ballot in this state" includes a candidate for president of the United States whose candidates for presidential elector will appear on the ballot in this state.

2. "Digital impersonation" means synthetic media, typically video or audio, that:

(a) Has been digitally manipulated to convincingly replace one person's likeness or voice with that of another using deep generative methods and artificial intelligence techniques, or for which one person's likeness or voice has otherwise been simulated using deep generative methods and artificial intelligence techniques;

(b) Was created with the intention to deceive or lead reasonable listeners or viewers into believing that the content is authentic;

(d) Would cause reasonable viewers or listeners to conclude that the recording or image is a true and accurate depiction of something the person said or did;

(e) is not commentary, parody, satire, criticism or artistic expression; and

(f) Was not created by the person or with the person's consent.

3. "Election" means any election in this state, including a primary, presidential preference, special or general election.

4. "Information content provider" means any person or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the internet or any other interactive computer service.

5. "Interactive computer service" means any information service, system or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the internet and such systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational institutions.

6. "Public figure", for the avoidance of doubt, includes limited purpose public figures.

7. "Public office" means any office of public trust or any position to which persons are elected within a political party. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Emergency

This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.