California passed a new law that makes it illegal to create deepfakes related to the 2024 election — the toughest law on political AI-generated content in the U.S. yet.
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed three bills to crack down on the use of AI to create false images or videos in political ads ahead of the 2024 election.
A new law, set to take effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections 120 days before Election Day and 60 days thereafter. It also allows courts to stop distribution of the materials and impose civil penalties.
“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,” Newsom says in a statement.
“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.”
Under a second first-in-the-nation law set to be enacted in January 2025, large social media platforms and other websites with more than one million users in California will be required to label or remove A.I. deepfakes within 72 hours after receiving a complaint. If the website does not take action, a court can require them to do so.
Governor Newsom also signed a bill that will require political campaigns to publicly disclose if they are running ads with materials altered by AI. The legislation requires labels to appear on deceptive audio, video, or images in political advertisements when they are generated with help from AI tools.
California’s legislation could serve as a guide for regulators nationwide seeking to curb the spread of AI-driven manipulative content in the U.S. However, it is believed that the state’s new laws are likely to encounter legal challenges from social media companies or free speech advocacy groups.
Governor Newsom’s aggressive new laws come after he condemned Elon Musk, the owner of X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) for sharing a misleading AI-generated video of Vice President Kamala Harris in July.
After Newsom signed the bills yesterday, Musk criticized the California governor in a series of posts on his X. He called for a “new leadership” in California and urged his followers to make the Harris deepfake video go “viral.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.