Ahead of the 2024 state elections, California is looking to combat deepfakes and other deceptive digitally generated or altered content in election campaigns.
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 17 signed three measures into law that are aimed at removing deceptive content from large online platforms, increasing accountability, and better informing voters.
“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation – especially in today’s fraught political climate,” said Gov. Newsom. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”
Gov. Newsom signed AB 2655 – sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman – which requires large online platforms to remove or label deceptive and digitally altered or created content related to elections during specified periods, and requires them to provide mechanisms to report that content. Additionally, the bill authorizes candidates, elected officials, election officials, the Attorney General, and a district attorney or city attorney to seek injunctive relief against a large online platform for noncompliance with the act.
“AI-generated deepfakes pose a clear and present risk to our elections and our democracy. AB 2655 is a first-in-the-nation solution to this growing threat … Advances in AI over the last few years make it easy to generate hyper-realistic yet completely fake election-related deepfakes, but AB 2655 will ensure that online platforms minimize their impact,” said Assemblymember Berman.
The governor also signed AB 2839, a measure offered by Democratic Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, which expands the timeframe in which a committee or other entity is prohibited from knowingly distributing an advertisement or other election material containing deceptive AI-generated or manipulated content. The bill also expands the scope of existing law to prohibit materially deceptive content of elected officials, candidates, elections officials and others, authorizing them to file a civil action to enjoin the distribution of such material.
“Signing AB 2839 into law is a significant step in continuing to protect the integrity of our democratic process. With fewer than 50 days until the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally-altered content that can interfere with the election,” said Assemblymember Pellerin, who chairs the Assembly Elections Committee.
The last bill the governor signed is AB 2355, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. The bill requires that electoral advertisements using AI-generated or substantially altered content feature a disclosure that the material has been altered. The bill also authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission to enforce a violation of these disclosure requirements by seeking injunctive relief to compel compliance or pursuing other remedies available to the commission under the Political Reform Act.
“The availability of tools to doctor images, video, and sound is not new. However, the rapid improvements in AI and Large Language Models have made it easier to create convincingly fake images, videos, and sounds. As these technologies become more accessible and are used in political campaigns, their impact on democracy requires urgent action. Voters must be informed when generative AI is used in political advertising to substantially alter media or create misleading content. Free speech and political expression are a cornerstone of our democracy, but we cannot lose sight of our humanity amid the advancement of artificial intelligence,” said Assemblymember Carrillo.
