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AI United States News

New Bill in New York Would Require Disclaimers on AI-Generated News Content (niemanlab.org) 33

An anonymous reader shares a report: A new bill in the New York state legislature would require news organizations to label AI-generated material and mandate that humans review any such content before publication. On Monday, Senator Patricia Fahy (D-Albany) and Assemblymember Nily Rozic (D-NYC) introduced the bill, called The New York Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Requirements in News Act -- The NY FAIR News Act for short.

"At the center of the news industry, New York has a strong interest in preserving journalism and protecting the workers who produce it," said Rozic in a statement announcing the bill. A closer look at the bill shows a few regulations, mostly centered around AI transparency, both for the public and in the newsroom. For one, the law would demand that news organizations put disclaimers on any published content that is "substantially composed, authored, or created through the use of generative artificial intelligence."

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New Bill in New York Would Require Disclaimers on AI-Generated News Content

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  • by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Saturday February 07, 2026 @06:29AM (#65974264)
    it might be less work to require labeling things that did not use AI.
  • This law would be totally unenforceable for at least three reasons. First, I'd like you to define "AI". (The law will have to do that, and it will fail to do so in any meaningful fashion.) Second, prove to me in court that AI was used. Three, this law is obviously contrary to the US Constitution.

    Another "We're Doing Something About It" theatrical gesture, with a taste of panic over how the world has been taken over by AI and there ain't a fucking thing anybody can do about it.

    • My arguments in reply of your concerns: 1) Definition: They don't have to define AI in the law; the newspaper are not going to invent some new mathematical approach, they are going to use commercial tools. The newspapers will self-incriminate by using tools that claim to be AI. Anyway LLM is another worg they can include.
      2) Proof in court: It is enforceable as any regulation of a process that isn't immediately visible (like in the food or water industry). A whistleblower will talk and bring internal emails.

    • First, I'd like you to define "AI".

      Not generated by a human as it's been done for centuries. Now start splitting hairs and moving the goalposts.

      Second, prove to me in court that AI was used.

      See above. Start splitting the hairs more finely.

      Three, this law is obviously contrary to the US Constitution.

      No it isn't.

      • The 1st Amendment prevents the abridging of the freedom of the press. Within that freedom is the choice of how to generate the material it puts on its pages and how to label it. That freedom also gives it the right to say whatever it likes and only to be held liable for severe defamation. In that context the bill is surely unconstitutional.

        The problem here, of course, is that the freedom of the press is based on the assumption that journalists and editors can be expected to do the right thing. This has been

        • The 1st Amendment prevents the abridging of the freedom of the press. Within that freedom is the choice of how to generate the material it puts on its pages

          Yes.

          and how to label it.

          No.

          Laws regarding content labeling are not a new idea. They exist. They have been tested and upheld by the courts.

          • Thank you. Got a source for that?

            • From Google:

              Content labeling laws are a well-established, legally tested form of regulation in the United States, often upheld by courts under the framework of protecting consumers and maintaining transparency, particularly in commercial speech.

              Food and Drug Labeling: The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1967 (FPLA) and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 require mandatory disclosures, such as ingredient lists, nutritional facts, and net contents, which have been consistently validated

  • by TheWho79 ( 10289219 ) on Saturday February 07, 2026 @08:48AM (#65974382)
    They think they are address 'slop' with this bill. In fact, I'd trust AI with my life before I'd trust the likes of some of these so called "News" outlets.
    • On the other hand, they don't want AI "fact checking" them either. They want their lies to be believed without AI checking up on them.
  • That word is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Sounds like the legislative branch is once again ceding authority to the judicial branch to make the real decisions.
  • by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Saturday February 07, 2026 @10:47AM (#65974536) Homepage
    If AI was owned by poor people--it would already have been been banned.
  • The goal should be to have anything published that used "AI" in its creation to carry a clear and obvious warning label.

    News, films, TV shows, social media posts, all of it should carry specific warnings - much like the nutrition-breakdown labels of food - so that people can make an informed decision about the veracity of what they choose to consume.

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