If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. California Democrats, Senator Adam Schiff and Representative Ro Khanna, reintroduced the AI Ads Act on Monday. The bill would change the Federal Election Campaign Act to ban the “fraudulent” use of AI to impersonate candidates or committees in federal elections. We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.  The bill extends existing bans on fraudulent misrepresentation to cover the content generated wholly or partly by AI. It would also extend the reach to anyone falsely claiming they represent a candidate or political organization. Schiff’s office said it would remove the requirement that a misrepresentation be shown to be “damaging” before enforcement can begin, dropping any need to prove harm. The bill has First Amendment implications. Schiff first introduced the measure as a House member in 2024. The reintroduction responds to ad spending in two recent California primary contests. Republican Spencer Pratt’s viral run for Los Angeles mayor leaned on AI video ads from director Charles Curran, one a “Pratt Man” riff on Batman. Curran went on to make ads for GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton criticizing Governor Newsom, Kamala Harris, and Xavier Becerra. A federal judge struck down California’s version of this idea last year. On August 29, 2025, Judge John Mendez ruled in Kohls v. Bonta that AB 2839, the deepfake law Newsom signed in 2024 to shield Harris from AI parodies, “discriminates based on content, viewpoint, and speaker” and failed scrutiny. He permanently enjoined it. AB 2839 at least carried a carveout for satire and parody, though it forced such content to wear a disclaimer. Judge Mendez found even that suspect, noting that a “disclaimer for parody or satire would kill the joke,” and that the law covered protected parody because it did not require the parody to actually fool anyone. Removing the AI Ads Act’s harm threshold would reach the same kind of stylized, obviously fake videos the court protected, so it’s unclear where Schiff and co are going with this. “AI-generated fraudulent advertising which uses the likeness or voices of candidates to misrepresent their positions, campaigns, or causes, or otherwise misrepresents a candidate’s point of view is not only wrong,” Schiff said. He called it “a serious threat to our democracy that should concern all Americans regardless of their party.” Khanna said AI should not be “used to mislead voters or undermine our democracy.” Despite the wording of the bill, Schiff says the bill is aimed at fraudulent impersonation rather than a ban on AI political ads. His office says it tracks bipartisan recommendations the Federal Election Commission issued in 2022 to modernize campaign fraud rules. The backers include Common Cause, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Campaign Legal Center, Protect Democracy, and Public Citizen. Supporters say more than 30 states have passed laws on deceptive AI election content while Congress has set no federal standard. This bill, unlike the California law, contains no parody carveout at all. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Schiff and Khanna Revive the AI Ads Act With No Parody Carveout appeared first on Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights.