California AB 502 Rewrites the Election Deepfake Rule With Immediate Effect

Assembly Bill 502 was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on September 19, 2026 as Chapter 333, Statutes of 2026, and took effect that day as an urgency statute. It amends Elections Code Section 20012, the prohibition on knowingly distributing election communications with materially deceptive content. The rule now reaches content that is material to a voter's decisions or to public confidence in an election, applies from 30 days before an election for candidates and officials and from 30 days before through 38 days after an election for elections officials and voting equipment, sets color and font requirements for the manipulation disclosure, exempts content a reasonable person would understand as satire or parody, and limits the right to sue to the individual depicted. Chaptered text retrieved 2026-10-12.

Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov