Meeting to include discussions on deepfakes in political advertising, rulemaking on political signs

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission is meeting in Vancouver on Wednesday, April 24, as part of its commitment to hear directly from voters and members of the regulated community alike about how to improve public understanding of money in politics.  

This is only the second time in recent memory that the Commission has met outside Olympia. Last June, the Commission met in Spokane. 

The agenda includes presentations on deepfakes and synthetic media in political advertising from Jevin West, founding director of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, and Oren Etzioni, founder of TrueMedia.org, a nonprofit fighting political deepfakes. The meeting will also include time for discussion on upcoming rulemaking on the topic. 

In 2023, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 5152, which creates a private cause of action against the sponsor of political advertising using synthetic media, also known as a deepfake, unless a disclaimer is included.  It also requires the PDC to draft rules in furtherance of the law, which will be administered through civil lawsuits. The PDC began rulemaking in January and staff plan to present draft rules to the Commission at the April 24 meeting.  

The agenda also includes a presentation of draft rules related to the passage this year of House Bill 2032, which requires political yard signs to include sponsor identification, or information about who paid for the printing of the signs. 

Also attending will be representatives from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Elections Division, discussing changes to their state’s campaign finance regulation system, and Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, to give an update on election administration issues. 

The business portion of the meeting is set to begin at 1 p.m. April 24 at the Hilton Hotel at 301 W. 6th St. in Vancouver. For updated information on the agenda as the meeting approaches, visit the PDC’s online calendar.