Former Texas House Speaker Dad Phelan, who was booted from the top spot in the Texas State House and hence one of the most important political posts in the state, is targeting digital images that he contends would communicate false impressions about events that don’t happen in reality.
This would include image manipulations, photoshops, AI-generated images, and pretty much anything that could be characterized as digital alterations that communicate something that doesn’t exactly reflect reality.
Former House Speaker Dade Phelan isn’t backing down from his controversial push to regulate political memes and altered images.
House Bill 366, which would require disclosures on altered media used in political advertising, received a hearing in the State Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning.
During the hearing, Phelan (R–Beaumont) insisted the bill was about addressing artificial intelligence in political advertising. But as critics have pointed out, the legislation itself doesn’t distinguish between AI-generated content and simple Photoshop edits—meaning it could criminalize even rudimentary image manipulation in political speech.
The bill, which would require disclaimers on political content featuring altered media, comes in response to a campaign mailer from Club for Growth during the last election that depicted Phelan alongside Nancy Pelosi. The mailer was intended to highlight that Phelan received major campaign contributions from a PAC that also backs Pelosi.
He argues it doesn’t effect memes, only political advertisements, but the people charged with enforcing the law beg to differ, and his motives suggest that he is not exactly sincere in his protestations that memes would not be suppressed.
“If you like your memes, you can keep your memes. This has nothing to do with what’s on social media,” @DadePhelan said of his bill mandating disclosures on political advertisements with AI-generated “deepfakes.” Critics argue the bill is overly broad. https://t.co/z9hkcEJBGG
— The Texan (@TheTexanNews) March 12, 2025
The Texan did the work to look at what the bill actually does, rather than what the author CLAIMS it would do, and the results weren’t exactly pretty.
Texas Ethics Commission General Counsel James Tinley admitted that social media posts could indeed fall under the bill’s jurisdiction.
“I think it’s possible for certain communications that are expressly advocating … It wouldn’t target memes in particular, but if a candidate says ‘vote for me’ on their social media, that would be a communication … that could be subject [to the rules],” Tinley testified.
Phelan also framed the bill as narrowly focused on political advertising, stating, “Again, this bill is solely within the election code. It has nothing to do with social media and nothing with someone posting something funny or not funny on the internet.”
Tinley’s response, however, suggested otherwise. “Political advertising is a communication that supports or opposes a candidate for nomination or election to public office … One of those ways is if it appears on an internet website,” he explained.
Memes are clearly a form of parodic political speech usually intended to shape how people think about issues and people and are usually the sharpest and most impactful when discussing politics. That a politician is angry about his image appearing next to Nancy Pelosi is unsurprising, but the message that a Pelosi-backing organization was backing Phelan could best be communicated by showing the two together.
The photo is instantly recognizable and communicates a message much more strongly than making people read a paragraph. It serves the purpose of headline in a news article.
Dade Phelan is my State Representative. He wants to put Texans in jail for political memes. If he puts me in jail for this meme, I will run against him from jail. As one of his constituents I am embarrassed by everything he represents. pic.twitter.com/CUsQ83A9fi
— TheTexasOne (@TexasRepublic71) March 11, 2025
It is true that memes are hyperbolic and occasionally downright unfair. Welcome to politics, which ain’t beanbag.
This sort of behavior is likely why Phelan was booted from the top spot by his colleagues, and it’s easy to see why they did.
