AI Frontier Institute

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2 and Title 39, Chapter 17, relative to deepfakes in election communications.

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Tennessee HB 2214 / SB 2321 has been introduced but not enacted. If enacted, it would regulate deepfakes in election communications. Section 1 would amend T.C.A. 39-17-1902 to define an "electoral deepfake". This is a deepfake depicting a candidate or political party, made with intent to injure their reputation or deceive a voter. It must either appear to a reasonable person to show a real individual saying or doing something that did not occur, or give a fundamentally different impression than the unaltered original. Section 2 would add new T.C.A. 39-17-1907. Within 90 days of an election, no person or entity could distribute an electoral deepfake that it knows or should have known deceptively or fraudulently depicts a candidate, or a candidate's party, running for state or local office (subsection (a)). The prohibition would not apply if the media carries a disclosure: "This _____ has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence." The disclosure must identify the media type, be easily readable, and last the full length of a video. For audio-only media, it must be spoken at the beginning, at the end, and at intervals of no more than two minutes (subsection (b)). A depicted candidate or party could seek injunctive or other equitable relief (subsection (c)(1)). County election commissions could impose civil fines (subsection (c)(2)): up to $10,000 for a violation within five years of a prior violation, up to $5,000 for a violation intended to cause violence or bodily harm, and up to $1,000 for all other violations. Exemptions cover bona fide news broadcasts that acknowledge authenticity questions (subsection (d)), broadcasters paid to air the content who made a good-faith effort to check it (subsection (e)), news websites and periodicals that clearly state the content is inaccurate (subsection (f)), and satire or parody (subsection (g)). Section 4 makes the act severable. Section 5 would make it effective upon becoming law. The bill was referred to the Senate State and Local Government Committee on 2026-02-05.

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