HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5094

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 11, 2026.

The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Bill enhancing disclosure requirements for synthetic media in political advertising (House, No. 846), reports recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting therefor the accompanying bill (House, No. 5094).

For the committee,

AARON MICHLEWITZ.

        FILED ON: 2/10/2026

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5094

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act enhancing disclosure requirements for synthetic media in political advertising.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

 SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 50 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Aldermen” the following definition:-

 “Artificial intelligence” or “AI”, the capability of a computer system to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, including, but not limited to, visual perception, speech recognition, content generation and decision-making.

 SECTION 2. Said section 1 of said chapter 50, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “Federal act” the following definition:-

 “Generative artificial intelligence”, artificial intelligence technology capable of creating content, including, but not limited to, text, audio, image or video based on patterns learned from large volumes of data rather than being explicitly programmed with rules.

 SECTION 3. Said section 1 of said chapter 50, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of “State officer” the following definition:-

 “Synthetic media”, audio or video content substantially produced by generative artificial intelligence.

 SECTION 4. Chapter 56 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

 Section 70. (a) Any audio or video communication that: (i) is paid for by a candidate campaign committee, political action committee, political issues committee, political party or a person using a contribution; (ii) is intended to influence voting for or against a candidate or ballot proposition in an election or primary; and (iii) contains synthetic media shall include: (1) at the beginning and end of the communication the words “contains content generated by AI”; and (2) throughout the duration of each portion of the communication containing synthetic media the words: (A) “This video content was generated by AI”, if the communication includes only video synthetic media; provided, that the words shall be in legible writing; (B) “This audio content was generated by AI”, if the communication includes only audio synthetic media; provided, that the words shall be in a clearly spoken manner; or (C) “This content was generated by AI”, if the communication includes both video and audio synthetic media; provided, that the words shall be in legible writing.

 (b) A violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000. Compliance with this section shall not exempt a person from civil or criminal liability for a violation of other applicable law.