Election Law - Election Misinformation, Election Disinformation, and Deepfakes
What changed between versions
The bill was converted from a 'Second Printing' draft to an 'Enrolled Bill,' indicating it has passed all legislative stages and is ready for the Governor's signature.
The statutory section number was changed from 2-110 to 16-905 to align with the official Annotated Code of Maryland.
The State Administrator of Elections is now explicitly required to communicate accurate information to the public to correct misinformation, whereas the draft version only authorized seeking injunctions.
The State Board's ability to file civil actions was clarified to require a finding that the entity published person-created content or disseminated disinformation with reckless disregard.
The State Board of Elections is now explicitly authorized to seek damages and attorney's fees in civil actions, provided the defendant is not an exempt entity.
A new exemption was added preventing the State Board from seeking injunctions against 'interactive computer services' (e.g., social media platforms) for content disseminated by others, referencing federal Section 230 protections.
Exemptions were added for entities that seek to detect, report, prevent, or investigate security breaches, identity theft, fraud, harassment, or other malicious activity.
