Technology

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.

Commonwealth of Virginia Innovation Partnership Act; Regional Innovation Fund; Commonwealth Commercialization Fund; matching funds. Provides that, for purposes of the Regional Innovation Fund and the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund, any awards from such funds of $100,000 or less shall not require matching funds.

State government; transaction of public business; prohibited website domains. Prohibits a public body, defined in the bill, from maintaining an official website for public use with a domain other than a .gov, .edu, or .museum domain. The bill provides that any email address that a public body provides to its employees shall utilize a .gov domain and directs the Virginia Information Technologies Agency to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2029.

Property insurance; use of aerial or satellite imagery. Prohibits an insurer from refusing to renew a policy written to insure an owner-occupied dwelling based on information obtained through the use of aerial or satellite imagery unless (i) such imagery has been captured not more than 12 months prior to the nonrenewal notice; (ii) the nonrenewal notice includes date-stamped aerial or satellite images of the insured property identifying the specific conditions that form the basis for nonrenewal and specifies any action that the insured may take to remedy such conditions; (iii) the insurer provides the insured a period of not less than 90 days to cure the identified conditions before the nonrenewal takes effect; and (iv) the insurer establishes a point of contact for the insured to submit documentation and a process to review such documentation. The bill requires the insurer to offer to renew coverage if the insured provides documentation, within the 90-day period, demonstrating that the identified conditions have been cured to the insurer's reasonable satisfaction.

Digital Right to Repair Act; access to diagnostics, tools, service documentation, and firmware; penalties. Requires an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of digital electronic equipment to make available to owners of such equipment and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of such equipment. The bill requires, for digital electronic equipment that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, OEMs to make available to the owners of such equipment and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, parts, and tools needed to disable such lock or function and to reset it when disabled. A violation of the bill's provisions is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.