# Virginia SB141: Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty.

Virginia SB141, Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Saddam Azlan Salim (Democratic); status failed, last action 2026-03-14 (Failed to Pass from conference) (as of 2026-11-06).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB141-2026
- As of: 2026-11-06
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB141
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Political campaign advertisements; synthetic media, penalty.
- Status: failed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-06
- Last action: 2026-03-14, Failed to Pass from conference
- Sponsor: Saddam Azlan Salim (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 10 (200 yes, 90 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Elections; political campaign advertisements; synthetic media; penalty. Prohibits electioneering communications containing synthetic media, as those terms are defined in the bill, from being published or broadcast without containing the following conspicuously displayed statement: "This message contains synthetic media that has been altered from its original source or artificially generated and may present conduct or speech that did not occur." The bill creates a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 for a violation of such prohibition and a Class 1 misdemeanor for a willful violation. The bill permits any registered voter who receives an electioneering communication in violation of this requirement to institute an action for preventative relief to prohibit the publication or dissemination of such electioneering communication, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Saddam Azlan Salim (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-12 | Senate | Senate acceded to request | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-03-12 | House | Passed House with substitute | pass | 62 | 34 |   |
| 2026-03-12 | Senate | House substitute rejected by Senate | fail | 0 | 40 |   |
| 2026-03-09 | House | Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation with substitute | pass | 15 | 6 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | House | Referred from Privileges and Elections and referred to Communications, Technology and Innovation and rereferred to Communications, Technology and Innovation (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-16 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate | pass | 34 | 4 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | Senate | Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-10 | Senate | Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute | pass | 9 | 6 |   |

## Actions (40)

- 2026-03-14: Failed to Pass from conference (Senate)
- 2026-03-14: Failed to Pass from conference (Senate)
- 2026-03-14: No further action taken (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: House Conferees: Hayes, Maldonado, Pence (House)
- 2026-03-12: Conferees appointed by House (House)
- 2026-03-12: Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: House requested conference committee (House)
- 2026-03-12: House insisted on substitute (House)
- 2026-03-12: House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Passed House with substitute (62-Y 34-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-03-12: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-03-12: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-03-12: Read third time (House)
- 2026-03-12: Conferees appointed by Senate (Senate)
- 2026-03-12: Senate Conferees: Salim, Perry, French (Senate)
- 2026-03-11: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB141) (Senate)
- 2026-03-11: Read second time (House)
- 2026-03-09: Committee substitute printed 26109370D-H1 (House)
- 2026-03-09: House committee offered (House)
- 2026-03-09: Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation with substitute (15-Y 6-N) (House)
- 2026-03-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB141) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Referred from Privileges and Elections and referred to Communications, Technology and Innovation and rereferred to Communications, Technology and Innovation (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-02-19: Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections (House)
- 2026-02-19: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-19: Placed on Calendar (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read third time and passed Senate (34-Y 4-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Read second time (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB141) (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Committee substitute printed 26107736D-S1 (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-02-10: House committee offered (House)
- 2026-02-10: Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (9-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-29: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB141) (Senate)
- 2026-01-06: Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections (Senate)
- 2026-01-06: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100611D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-03-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199454.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199425.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199424.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199453.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139703.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139702.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-10: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139391.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139390.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083487.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083486.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB128: Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty. (signed)
- HB1444: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)

## Sources
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199454.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199425.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199424.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199453.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139703.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139702.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139391.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139390.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083487.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083486.PDF)

## Related
- [HB20: Minimum wage; farm laborers or farm employees, temporary foreign workers.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB20-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB128: Covenants not to compete; includes health care professionals, civil penalty.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB128-2026)
- [HB1444: Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; created, report, membership.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1444-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB141-2026 (as of 2026-11-06).