California 2019-2020 Regular Session Status: Enacted 2 D cosponsors

AB 730 — Elections: deceptive audio or visual media.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 493, Statutes of 2019.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 19, 2019. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 7 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Existing law prohibits a person or specified entity from, with actual malice, producing, distributing, publishing, or broadcasting campaign material, as defined, that contains (1) a picture or photograph of a person or persons into which the image of a candidate for public office is superimposed or (2) a picture or photograph of a candidate for public office into which the image of another person or persons is superimposed, unless the campaign material contains a specified disclosure. This bill would, until January 1, 2023, instead prohibit a person, committee, or other entity, within 60 days of an election at which a candidate for elective office will appear on the ballot, from distributing with actual malice materially deceptive audio or visual media of the candidate with the intent to injure the candidate's reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate, unless the media includes a disclosure stating that the media has been manipulated. The bill would restore the existing provisions described above on January 1, 2023. The bill would define "materially deceptive audio or visual media" to mean an image or audio or video recording of a candidate's appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated in a manner such that the image or audio or video recording would falsely appear to a reasonable person to be authentic and would cause a reasonable person to have a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the expressive content of the image or audio or video recording than that person would have if the person were hearing or seeing the unaltered, original version of the image or audio or video recording. The bill would authorize, until January 1, 2023, a candidate for elective office whose voice or likeness appears in audio or visual media distributed in violation of this section to seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohibiting the distribution of the deceptive audio or visual media. It would also authorize a candidate whose voice or likeness appears in the deceptive audio or visual media to bring an action for general or special damages against the person, committee, or other entity that distributed the media, and would authorize the court to award a prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The bill would provide exemptions for all of the following: (1) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, when it is paid to broadcast materially deceptive audio or visual media, (2) materially deceptive audio or visual media that constitutes satire or parody, (3) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, that broadcasts materially deceptive audio or visual media as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure that there are questions about the authenticity of the materially deceptive audio or visual media, and (4) an internet website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other periodical of general circulation, including an internet or electronic publication, that routinely carries news and commentary of general interest, and that publishes the materially deceptive audio or visual media, if the publication clearly states that the materially deceptive audio or visual media does not accurately represent the speech or conduct of the candidate.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 493, Statutes of 2019.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.

  4. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 67. Noes 4. Page 3569.).

  5. From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (September 13).

  6. Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 3552.)

  7. Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.

  8. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  9. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 7. Page 2926.).

  10. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  11. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  12. Joint Rule 61 suspended. (Ayes 28. Noes 8. Page 2733.)

  13. Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.

  14. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (July 9).

  15. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  16. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 3. Noes 1.) (July 2). Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

  17. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

  18. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

  19. In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  20. In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  21. Referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

  22. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  23. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 1587.)

  24. Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

  25. From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (May 1).

  26. Referred to Com. on E. & R.

  27. From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.

  28. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 120 not signed on · 5 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (120)

120 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 120 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

AB 730 Berman Concurrence in Senate Amendments

Passed 67 Yea · 4 Nay · 8 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 44404
Democratic 19003
Republican 4001
Total 67408
% of votes cast 85%5%0%10%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Salas — Yea
Brough — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Diep — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Gray — Yea
Holden — Yea
Daly — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Ting — Yea
Levine — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Low — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Burke — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Wood — Yea
Medina — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Chu — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Weber — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Quirk — Nay
Kamlager-Dove — Nay
Kiley — Nay
Fong — Not Voting
Bigelow — Not Voting
Melendez — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Not Voting
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Nay
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Not Voting
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Not Voting
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Not Voting
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Not Voting
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading AB730 Berman et al. By Hertzberg

Passed 29 Yea · 7 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 20403
Democratic 9001
Republican 0300
Total 29704
% of votes cast 73%18%0%10%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Rubio — Yea
Monning — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Beall — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Hill — Yea
Roth — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Allen — Yea
Borgeas — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Chang — Yea
Pan — Yea
Morrell — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Wilk — Nay
Moorlach — Not Voting
Bates — Not Voting
Wieckowski — Not Voting
Mark Stone — Nay
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Not Voting
Gonzalez, Lena A. Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Nay
Grove, Shannon Republican Nay
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended

Passed 6 Yea · 2 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 4100
Unaffiliated 2001
Republican 0100
Total 6201
% of votes cast 67%22%0%11%
How each member voted (9)
Member Party Vote
Monning — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Borgeas — Not Voting
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Nay
Gonzalez, Lena A. Democratic Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

AB 730 Berman Consent Calendar Second Day

Passed 76 Yea · 0 Nay · 4 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 47001
Democratic 24001
Republican 5002
Total 76004
% of votes cast 95%0%0%5%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Brough — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Salas — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Smith — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Diep — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Gray — Yea
Holden — Yea
Daly — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Ting — Yea
Kamlager-Dove — Yea
Levine — Yea
Melendez — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Low — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Burke — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Wood — Yea
Medina — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Chu — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Weber — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Voepel — Not Voting
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Not Voting
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Carrillo, Juan Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Not Voting
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Not Voting
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Patterson, Joe Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 730 do?
Existing law prohibits a person or specified entity from, with actual malice, producing, distributing, publishing, or broadcasting campaign material, as defined, that contains (1) a picture or photograph of a person or persons into which the image of a candidate for public office is superimposed or (2) a picture or photograph of a candidate for public office into which the image of another person or persons is superimposed, unless the campaign material contains a specified disclosure. This bill would, until January 1, 2023, instead prohibit a person, committee, or other entity, within 60 days of an election at which a candidate for elective office will appear on the ballot, from distributing with actual malice materially deceptive audio or visual media of the candidate with the intent to injure the candidate's reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate, unless the media includes a disclosure stating that the media has been manipulated. The bill would restore the existing provisions described above on January 1, 2023. The bill would define "materially deceptive audio or visual media" to mean an image or audio or video recording of a candidate's appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated in a manner such that the image or audio or video recording would falsely appear to a reasonable person to be authentic and would cause a reasonable person to have a fundamentally different understanding or impression of the expressive content of the image or audio or video recording than that person would have if the person were hearing or seeing the unaltered, original version of the image or audio or video recording. The bill would authorize, until January 1, 2023, a candidate for elective office whose voice or likeness appears in audio or visual media distributed in violation of this section to seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohibiting the distribution of the deceptive audio or visual media. It would also authorize a candidate whose voice or likeness appears in the deceptive audio or visual media to bring an action for general or special damages against the person, committee, or other entity that distributed the media, and would authorize the court to award a prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The bill would provide exemptions for all of the following: (1) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, when it is paid to broadcast materially deceptive audio or visual media, (2) materially deceptive audio or visual media that constitutes satire or parody, (3) a radio or television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, that broadcasts materially deceptive audio or visual media as part of a bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly acknowledges through content or a disclosure that there are questions about the authenticity of the materially deceptive audio or visual media, and (4) an internet website, or a regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other periodical of general circulation, including an internet or electronic publication, that routinely carries news and commentary of general interest, and that publishes the materially deceptive audio or visual media, if the publication clearly states that the materially deceptive audio or visual media does not accurately represent the speech or conduct of the candidate.
Who sponsors AB 730?
AB 730 is sponsored by Berman, Marc (Democratic) and Grayson, Timothy S. (Democratic).
What is the current status of AB 730?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 19, 2019. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 730?
Track AB 730 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on AB 730

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of AB 730

Last checked for changes 2 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →