Independent research study — not client work
VerifiedRS-01 • Elections and democracy • checked 4 September 2026
A short study of the legal instruments themselves, not of press coverage about them. It records what two enforceable obligations actually say — the EU transparency article and one US state statute, both read in full — and marks the wider US state-level picture as only partially verified because it relied on a legislature-association tracker rather than fifty individual statutes.
Section 01
Which jurisdictions have introduced an enforceable duty to disclose AI-generated political or synthetic media, and what exactly does that duty require?
In the European Union the duty is enforceable and general: Article 50(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 obliges deployers of AI systems producing deepfake image, audio or video content to disclose that it was artificially generated or manipulated, subject to law-enforcement and artistic-work exceptions. In the United States there is no equivalent federal disclosure statute; the requirements are state-level and uneven. One of those state requirements — Florida Statutes § 106.145 (2024) — was read in full here: it mandates a specified disclaimer on certain AI-generated political content and makes non-compliance a first-degree misdemeanour.
Section 02
Section 03
Open the consolidated Official Journal text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 and read the transparency article in full rather than relying on an explainer site.
Extract the operative sentence and its exceptions verbatim before writing any summary of it.
For the United States, look for a single federal disclosure statute; where none is found, say so rather than substituting state examples as if they were national.
Mark any claim whose underlying page could not be opened directly as partially verified, and say why.
Section 04
Article 50(4) requires deployers of an AI system that generates or manipulates image, audio or video content constituting a deep fake to disclose that the content has been artificially generated or manipulated.
The obligation does not apply where the use is authorised by law to detect, prevent, investigate or prosecute criminal offence. Where the content forms part of an evidently artistic, creative, satirical, fictional or analogous work, the obligation is limited to disclosing the existence of the generated content in a way that does not hamper display or enjoyment of the work.
Those two dates appear on the face of the published instrument, which is cited as Regulation (EU) 2024/1689.
The National Conference of State Legislatures records at least fifty deepfake-related bills enacted across the states in the 2024 session. The state count itself was not independently re-tallied here, so this finding is marked partially verified; one of the state laws it covers is verified directly in finding F5.
The statute requires a political advertisement, electioneering communication or similar advert that contains generative-AI content which appears to depict a real person performing an action that did not actually occur — and which was created with intent to injure a candidate or to deceive regarding a ballot issue — to state prominently: "Created in whole or in part with the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI)." It prescribes format rules per medium (at least 12-point bold type in print, at least 4 percent of vertical picture height on video, an audible spoken disclaimer for audio), and provides that a person identified as paying for, sponsoring or approving such an advert who omits the disclaimer commits a misdemeanour of the first degree. Any person may file a complaint with the Florida Elections Commission, which must provide an expedited hearing.
Section 05
European Union — EUR-Lex • Adopted 13 June 2024; OJ 12 July 2024
Full HTML text retrieved and Article 50(4) read in place; the wording quoted on this page is taken from that text.
Open sourceNational Conference of State Legislatures • 2024 legislative session summary
The page opens normally in a browser but returned 403 to a direct automated request, so its text was read through a search index rather than fetched from the site. Only one of the state statutes it tracks (Florida) was opened individually.
Open sourceFlorida Senate — Online Sunshine statutes • 2024 statutes (chapter 106, campaign financing)
Full statute text fetched from the Florida Senate site and read directly; the disclaimer wording, format rules and first-degree misdemeanour penalty in finding F5 are quoted from that text.
Open sourceSection 06
| Query | Engine | Logged | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU AI Act Article 50 deepfake disclosure obligation official text | Web search | 4 September 2026 | Returned explainer sites first; the Official Journal text was reached and used instead. |
| site:eur-lex.europa.eu regulation 2024/1689 consolidated text | Direct fetch | 4 September 2026 | HTML retrieved; Article 50(4) located and read in full. |
| United States federal deepfake election disclosure law | Web search | 4 September 2026 | No federal disclosure statute of equivalent scope surfaced; state-level tracking material surfaced instead, which set the boundary of finding F4. |
| Florida 2024 artificial intelligence political advertising disclaimer statute | Web search, then direct fetch (flsenate.gov) | 4 September 2026 | A first guess at the official statute URL failed (HTTP 404, twice, on an unrelated site path); a fresh search located Florida Statutes § 106.145 on the Florida Senate site, which was fetched and read in full for finding F5. |
Section 07