State Senate: Republican majority
State House: Republican majority
Governor: Kristi Noem (R)
Attorney General: Marty Jackley (R)

Summary:

The Republican stronghold of South Dakota has recently progressed on legislation limiting the use of generative AI in elections, and criminalizing the use, possession, and dissemination of AI-generated child pornography, the latter of which recently became law.

Key Policymakers:

• Rep. Fred Deutsch [R] and Sen. David Wheeler [R]

Legislative Activity:

SB 96: This bill states that no person, with the intent to injure a candidate, may disseminate a deepfake or enter into a contract or other agreement to disseminate a deepfake, within ninety days of an election, if the person knows or reasonably should know the item being disseminated is a deepfake and does not include with the deepfake the disclosure described in section of this Act. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Bipartisan bill introduced by Sen. Liz Larson [D] and Rep. Drew Peterson [R] in Jan. 2024 and passed the Senate along partisan lines in Feb. 2024.

SB 79 (Signed into Law): Extends criminal penalties for use, possession, and dissemination of child pornography to include AI-generated media. Introduced by Rep. Fred Deutsch [R] and Sen. David Wheeler [R] in Jan. 2024, passed both chambers nearly unanimously, and signed into law on Feb. 13, 2024. 

HB 1223 (2021): A social media website user, who is eighteen years of age or older, may bring a civil action against the owner or operator of a social media website with users in this state if the social media website intentionally censors a social media website user’s religious or political speech; or uses an algorithm to suppress religious or political speech.In a civil action brought under this Act, a social media website user may be awarded seventy-five thousand dollars for each purposeful censoring or suppression of the social media user’s speech, actual damages, equitable relief, attorney fees, costs, and disbursements. An owner or operator of a social media website may not raise hate speech as a defense in a civil action brought under this Act. Introduced by Rep. Phil Jensen [R] in Feb. 2021 but failed a vote in the House.

Legal Actions:

Attorney General Jackley Joins Lawsuit Against Meta For Harming Youth Mental Health. On Oct. 24, 2023 South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley joined Attorneys General from 41 other states in filing federal or state lawsuits against Meta alleging that the company knowingly designed and developed harmful features on Instagram and other social media platforms that purposefully addicted children and teens. South Dakota is part of the federal complaint, which includes 32 other states, and was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit  alleges that Meta knew of the harmful impacts that the platforms had on the mental health of young people and that the company misled the public about the harms associated with the use of its platforms.

Attorneys General also joining the federal lawsuit are from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,  Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Eight other states filed similar lawsuits in their own state courts. Those states are the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont.