As the 2026 midterm elections approach, political advertisers, campaigns, nonprofits, and digital platforms face an evolving regulatory environment shaped by artificial intelligence, paid influencers, and federal and state disclosure requirements. In a recent webinar, Venable partners Barry Benjamin and Meredith McCoy and counsel Dave Owens examined when political messaging becomes regulated advertising, how emerging technologies complicate compliance, and why organizations must consider both election laws and the rules governing specific communication channels.
AI Deepfakes and Political Advertising Disclosures
Political advertising regulations depend on several factors, including sponsorship, whether it advocates for or against a candidate, distribution, and when and where it appears. McCoy, a former Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforcement attorney, emphasized that determining whether a communication qualifies as political advertising must come before evaluating disclaimer requirements.
She explained that “once an advertisement is considered political advertising, a whole host of other laws will start to apply, and both advertisers and platforms alike will have different compliance obligations.” Unpaid political advocacy generally falls outside campaign advertising requirements, she said, while compensating an individual to promote a candidate or paying to boost social media content can introduce new compliance obligations, including disclaimers, reporting, and potentially donor disclosure.
AI-generated political content adds another layer of complexity. Owens noted that although there is no comprehensive federal AI-specific disclosure regime for political advertising, 31 states have enacted laws addressing deepfakes and political messaging. Those laws, he explained, vary in whether they prohibit certain synthetic content or permit it with disclosures, as well as in their timing windows, intent standards, liability provisions, and required disclaimer language.
Owens cautioned that “there really isn’t one universal AI test in terms of compliance.” These layers of regulation extend to political influencers, whose paid relationships and promoted posts can trigger different requirements under federal and state law, he said. Owens urged advertisers to examine payment arrangements and distribution practices, while McCoy questioned whether the creative benefits of synthetic content justify the compliance burden, asking, “Are we getting such great content out of AI here that it really merits its use and is worth this disclaimer?”
Political Email, Text Messaging, and Compliance Risks
Beyond AI and influencer marketing, Benjamin examined the distinct legal obligations associated with political email campaigns, text messages, and robocalls, emphasizing that election-related speech may also implicate the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and platform-specific requirements.
Using a hypothetical supporter who sends messages to 4,000 contacts on behalf of a favored candidate, Benjamin illustrated how compensation, campaign involvement, commercial promotions, and transmission technology can change the legal analysis. A message urging recipients to vote for a candidate, he said, may be treated differently from one promoting sales of the candidate’s autobiography or concert tickets, while political text campaigns require particular attention to dialing technology, consent, revocation requests, and suppression lists.
“Political marketing is still marketing, and you need to be aware of these,” Benjamin said, underscoring the importance of analyzing the message, identifying the sender, documenting consent, maintaining accurate records, and establishing procedures for honoring unsubscribe requests before communications are distributed.
The speakers concluded by addressing how responsibility should be allocated among sponsors, agencies, influencers, and advertising platforms. As political advertising laws become more complex, they stressed the importance of early legal review, clear contractual responsibilities, and thorough documentation to help organizations navigate overlapping regulatory requirements and reduce compliance risks ahead of the midterm elections.
If you or your organization have questions, contact the presenters or visit Venable.com to learn more about our Advertising and Marketing Group.