With California’s newest law, people on social media who post or share AI deepfakes that trick voters about future elections could be charged with a crime. Governor Gavin Newsom says that AB 2839, which became law right after he signed it on Tuesday, could be used to catch people like Elon Musk who share false information on Twitter.
In a tweet, Newsom said, “I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.” He was referring to an AI deepfake Musk shared earlier this year that made it look like Kamala Harris called herself a stupid candidate and a diversity hire, which she did not.
“You can’t knowingly send out an ad or other election communications that contain materially false information, like deepfakes,” Newsom said later in the tweet.
The new rule in California goes after people who spread AI deepfakes, especially if the post looks like a candidate on the California ballot and the person who made it knows it’s a fake that will cause confusion. When AB 2839 is passed, it will only target people who spread fake AI content, not the people who make them or the sites where they are found. Anyone who sees an AI deepfake on social media can now ask for injunctive relief. This means that the person who shared it could be fined or told to take it down by a judge.
As we get ready for the 2024 presidential election, this is one of the strongest rules in the US against election-related AI deepfakes.
Parhlo World talked to a sponsor of AB 2839, the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), who said that this rule can affect anyone on social media who posts or shares election-related AI deepfakes with bad intentions, not just Musk. “Malice” means the person who put up the sign knew it was false and would throw people off.
According to Leora Gershenzon, policy director for CITED, AB 2839 goes after the people who make or distribute material that is covered by the law. She said this in an interview with Parhlo World. “This is seriously misleading information that is being spread without caring about the truth and is likely to have an effect on the election.”
When asked if Musk could be sued for sharing deepfakes, Newsom did not say that it was impossible.
He said at a news conference Thursday, “I think Mr. Musk has missed the punchline.” There is still a lot of parody going on in California, but deepfakes and voting fraud are bad for democracy.
In particular, the new rule says that election-related AI deepfakes can’t be shown or heard on TV, radio, the phone, texts, or any other form of communication “distributed through the internet.” As opposed to other rules that only dealt with political ads, this one is about posts from regular people as well. AB 2839 makes it harder to say negative things about politicians on social media 120 days before and 60 days after a California election.
“The real goal is neither the money damages nor the injunctive relief,” Gershenzon said. “It’s just to keep people from doing it in the first place.” Truthfully, that’s what would be best—for these fakes not to fraudulently affect our votes.
Candidates for state and local elections in California must follow this rule. It also applies to federal candidates running in California, like Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. If an AI deepfake has a clear disclaimer that says it was digitally changed, then AB 2839 does not apply to it.
Musk is already trying to see if people will really follow California’s new law. Newsom mentioned a deepfake of Kamala Harris in his tweet on Tuesday. Musk shared it again, and it got more than 31 million views on X. Musk also shared an AI deepfake on Wednesday that looked a lot like Governor Newsom and was seen by more than 7 million people.
Also Read: The Telecom Company That Helped Biden’s Deepfake Scam Will Pay the Fcc $1m
Musk and X are also having legal issues with moderation. For example, on Thursday, a judge from Brazil’s Supreme Court fined the X Corporation for using the site even though the country doesn’t allow it. The judge had said before that X’s failure to fight fake news and hate speech is bad for democracy in Brazil.
What do you say about this story? Visit Parhlo World For more.
