HB 982 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty.

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. The bill permits any registered voter who receives an electioneering communication in violation of this requirement to institute an action for preventative relief to prohibit the publication or dissemination of such electioneering communication, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Left in Committee Privileges and Elections
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 1-N)
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
Assigned HPE sub: Campaigns and Candidates
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Tom Garrett
Tom Garrett
RRepublican
VA
56