Overview

Texas Political Meme Criminalization Bill, officially known as House Bill 366 and also called Dade Phelan’s Political Memes Bill, refers to a viral debate and controversy surrounding the Texas House of Representatives Bill 366, created by State Rep. Dade Phelan in early 2025. The bill would make it a crime to distribute altered media, which could also include political memes, without a government-approved disclaimer.

House Bill 366 also states that individuals are not allowed to share content with the "intent to influence an election, knowingly cause to be published, distributed, or broadcast political advertising" that includes an "image, audio recording, or video recording of an officeholder’s or candidate’s appearance that utilizes Photoshop or Artificial Intelligence," and specifically "applies to officeholders, candidates, or political committees." The "Texas meme bill," as many online labeled it, was introduced in March 2025 and was passed by the Texas House of Representatives in late April 2025, sparking widespread discourse on Twitter / X, Reddit and YouTube about internet users' concerns over free speech and government censorship.

Background

On March 10th, 2025, Texas Scorecard^[1] revealed State Rep. Dade Phelan's intention to present House Bill 366^[2] to the Texas House of Representatives. The bill mentions "concerns regarding the use of altered media, including images, audio recordings, and video recordings, created with generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology in political advertising." The bill also seeks to "require a clear disclosure on political advertisements containing altered media, stating explicitly that the depicted image, audio recording, or video recording did not occur in reality."

The Texas Scorecard journalist @KamVTV uploaded a video on X^[3] / Twitter on the same day explaining the bill, and alluding that, if approved, HB 366 could make "political memes a criminal offense, punishable by up to one year in jail." The video (seen below) received more than 125,000 views and 2,500 likes in a month.

Local Texas news station KFDM^[9] also covered the introduction of the bill in mid-March 2025, publishing an article with a poll from users on March 12th that saw its readers vote 66 percent to 34 percent in agreement with Phelan's proposed bill.

Developments

On April 29th, 2025, 106 members of the Texas House of Representatives passed HB 366 (Phelan’s political memes bill). Exact details about the bill that passed were summarized on the site Bill Track 50,^[9] which specifically noted, "The legislation applies to officeholders, candidates, or political committees that spend over $100 on political advertising or distribute altered media content" (full summary seen below).

This bill adds a new section to the Texas Election Code that addresses political advertising containing altered media, particularly those created using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The legislation applies to officeholders, candidates, or political committees that spend over $100 on political advertising or distribute altered media content. Under the proposed law, it would be illegal to publish political advertising with manipulated images, audio, or video recordings of a candidate or officeholder that did not occur in reality, unless the alteration is purely superficial (like adjusting color or brightness) or the advertisement includes a clear disclosure that the media is not real. The Texas election commission will be responsible for establishing specific guidelines for this disclosure, including details about font, size, and color. Violations of this section would be considered a Class A misdemeanor. The bill explicitly protects internet service providers, broadcasters, telecommunications networks, and commercial sign owners from liability for such altered political advertising published by others. The new law is set to take effect on September 1, 2025, providing ample time for political entities to understand and comply with the new requirements.

The voting was shared by X^[4] user @Carlos__Turcios, who wrote, "The Texas House passed a bill to CRIMINALIZE POLITICAL MEMES." The post (seen below) amassed over 2.3 million views and 11,000 likes in a day.

On April 30th, 2025, the YouTube^[7] channel of local Austin, Texas news station KVUE posted a video with some of the reasons why State Rep. Dade Phelan created HB 366, stating that the politician was "the subject of political attacks and memes in his most recent reelection campaign," which refers to a false advertisement^[8] shared in April 2024 using a deepfake of Phelan in an intimate hug with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Online Reactions

The controversial Texas political meme bill generated significant backlash and criticism on social media upon its passing in late April 2025, with several people condemning the move as the news spread online.

For instance, on April 30th, 2025, X^[5] user @LarryBrockJr posted a picture with all the voters in the "Political Meme Criminalization Bill," writing that "All Republicans who voted Green need to be primaried." The tweet (seen below) received more than 24,000 views and 775 likes in a few hours.

On the same day, Redditor^[6] u/Remarkable_Flow_9124 posted to the r/conspiracy subreddit about the HB366 bill, claiming its "vague wording may criminalize satire and memes." The post received roughly 60 upvotes and 40 comments in a few hours.

Search Interest

External References