Action Needed: Your Testimony in Support of SB 309 is Needed

Aloha Hawaii Local Members,

Your testimony is needed!

Our deepfakes initiative, SB 309 RELATING TO PRIVACY, has passed the Senate and will be heard by the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, 2021 via videoconference.  

General information about deepfakes can be found here, but for more on SAG-AFTRA's position and initiatives to combat deepfakes, click here.

The hearing notice can is available here.

Time is of the essence with regards to your testimony. On-time testimony must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Late testimonies can be submitted until the time of the hearing on Thursday.

Submitting testimony is easy. Go to the bill’s status page (you can read the entire bill here), look in the upper right hand part of the screen and click on the blue “Submit Testimony” button. If you have not already created a login, you will be instructed on how to do so. After that, it is just a few clicks to have your voice heard.

When submitting testimony, you need not write anything out; it is as simple as clicking the “SUPPORT” button. However, if you are so inclined to write more, please consider:

1. Thanking the Legislature for addressing this important issue.
2. Stating that you are supporting SB 309.
3. Supporting making the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography a felony.
4. Discussing how this issue can and has victimized fellow SAG-AFTRA members, and could impact you or anyone else. (Also note that deepfake pornography has been made of over 1,000 SAG-AFTRA members and is being used to harass college students and former partners.)
5. Stating that this privacy protection is a basic human right to be free from abuse and harassment.

 We need to get a large number of testimony submitted via the capitol.hawaii.gov portal in time for the hearing to send the message that this is important to our membership.

Remember:

THE STATE CAPITOL IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC DURING THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC!

To comply with social distancing requirements, only written testimony and testimonies submitted via videoconference will be accepted. If you wish to testify via videoconference, you must also submit written testimony.   

Thank you for taking the time to read this email and your support. Please contact mericia.palmaelmore@sagaftra.org with questions.