Policy Tracker
Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty.
VA · Legislation · 2026 · HB982
Record updated Feb 18, 2026
Summary
Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty. Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: "This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur." The bill creates a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 for a violation of such prohibition and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a willful violation.
Timeline
2026-02-18
H
Left in Committee Privileges and Elections
2026-02-03
H
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 1-N)
2026-01-30
H
Assigned HPE sub: Campaigns and Candidates
2026-01-28
H
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB982)
2026-01-13
H
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104210D
2026-01-13
H
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
Bill Text
Pending
Bill Text is not available yet for this record.