Tex. Elec. Code § 255.004 · Chapter 255. REGULATING POLITICAL ADVERTISING AND CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS
TRUE SOURCE OF COMMUNICATION.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, the person enters into a contract or other agreement to print, publish, or broadcast political advertising that purports to emanate from a source other than its true source.
(b) A person commits an offense if, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, the person knowingly represents in a campaign communication that the communication emanates from a source other than its true source.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(d) A person commits an offense if the person, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election:
(1) creates a deep fake video; and
(2) causes the deep fake video to be published or distributed within 30 days of an election.
(e) In this section, "deep fake video" means a video, created with the intent to deceive, that appears to depict a real person performing an action that did not occur in reality.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by:
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1339 (S.B. 751), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/EL/htm/EL.255.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 913b060d14489ad069d9e6c08f184e95fee57e9a0a7b1fe0c78786717e18c9b2
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.