On Wednesday the Texas State House passed HB 366, which would make it a legal requirement for digitally altered media to be labeled such if it is used by a candidate or campaign group that spends over $100 on political advertising.
The legislation was angrily condemned by state Representative Shelley Luther, a Republican, who said, “We’re banning political memes and giving people up to a year in jail for failing to attach a disclosure to a cartoon.”
Newsweek contacted Luther and state Representative Dade Phelan, the former Republican State House Speaker who introduced the legislation, for comment on Thursday via online inquiry form.
Why It Matters
There have been growing concerns in recent years about the impact of “deepfakes,” synthetically generated content created with the aid of AI that can appear to show people saying or doing things they never actually said or did.
Some have raised free speech concerns about efforts to regulate the use of digitally altered media in political campaigns, while others have warned that it could be misleading and cause the spread of misinformation.
What To Know
The Texas State House approved the measure by a 102-40 vote on Wednesday. The legislation was filed by Phelan, who survived a contentious Donald Trump-backed primary challenge in 2024 during which he said that his opponents were targeting voters with material containing factually incorrect statements.
HB 366 carried widespread Democratic support, but some Republicans remained opposed.
The proposed legislation, if passed by the state Senate and signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, would make it a Class A misdemeanor for an officeholder, candidate or political committee in Florida that spent over $100 on political advertising during a reporting period to promote digitally altered media without clearly being labeled.
Responsibility for deciding what this labeling should look like, including its size and color, should be determined by the Texas Ethics Commission according to the bill.
A number of organizations including companies, TV or radio broadcasters, internet providers and commercial sign owners are granted exemption in the legislation.
It was also amended so that it wouldn’t apply to changes of “superficial quality” such as “the saturation, brightness, contrast, [or] color.”
If the bill becomes law, the penalty for violating HB 366 includes up to one year in prison, which Phelan said was needed as a fine alone might not deter rich organizations or individuals.
What People Are Saying
Speaking from the state House floor on Wednesday Phelan said: “This is nothing different than what we currently do with political advertisements.
“You have to put ‘political ad paid for by,’ when you enter this political advertising arena. And all this does is tell you to add a disclosure that you are using altered media.”
State Representative Andy Hopper, a Republican, said: “It is not the role of government to sit there and be a nanny state police force to decide.”
In a post on X state Representative Shelley Luther, a Republican who was briefly imprisoned for refusing to close her business during the coronavirus pandemic, said: “Curious what the Texas House is doing today?
“I’ll tell you: We’re banning political memes and giving people up to a year in jail for failing to attach a disclosure to a cartoon. Democrats, of course, are rallying around this bill. What a joke.”
Conservative activist Carlos Turcios wrote: “The Texas House passed a bill to CRIMINALIZE POLITICAL MEMES. House Bill 366 would LOCK UP ANYONE FOR A YEAR unless political memes or altered media have a gov disclaimer. Why is TEXAS DOING THIS?! RINOS are destroying the state!”
However a community note, a clarifying point agreed by other X users, said: “HB366 requires political ads with altered media to include a disclosure stating the content isn’t real. Applies to political ads, not all social media posts or memes. Non-compliance is a Class A misdemeanor.”
What Happens Next
It is unclear whether HB 366 has the votes to get past the state Senate, which is also Republican controlled. If it does it would be up to Abbott to decide whether to sign the legislation into law.
The post Has Texas Banned Political Memes? What We Know appeared first on Newsweek.
