**Viral News Snippet:**

Viral News Snippet:

#BREAKING: Senator Thom Tillis Pushes Bill to Criminalize ‘Digital Blackface’ – But Critics Say It’s a ‘Woke Trap’

In a move that has left both sides of the aisle scratching their heads, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has introduced the Protecting Authentic Expression in Media Act (PAEMA) — a bill that would make it a federal misdemeanor for public figures or corporations to use social media accounts that “falsely impersonate a minority or marginalized identity for financial gain or political influence.”

The bill, shared in a now-viral video clip from a C-SPAN floor speech, shows Tillis arguing: “If you wouldn’t wear brownface or blackface to a ball, you shouldn’t be allowed to wear it in a profile picture to sell a product or push a narrative.”

But within hours of the clip spreading, fact-checking organizations flagged the video as fake — a deepfake created using AI voice-cloning technology. The original C-SPAN footage was from a November 2024 hearing on digital privacy, not a new bill.

The Reality: No such bill exists. Thom Tillis has not made any recent statements about “digital blackface.” The viral clip has been debunked by Snopes and Reuters, who traced its origins to a satirical Twitter account with a history of manufacturing “woke vs. anti-woke” hoaxes.

Verdict: ✅ FAKE — The clip is AI-generated, not a real Senate proposal.