Seven Democratic members of Congress are calling for restrictions to be placed on the Grok-2 AI art generator.
The congressional members sent a letter to Federal Election Commission (FEC) Acting General Counsel Lisa Stevenson, claiming that the generated content can “severely misinform voters.”
“As Members of Congress, we are committed to the safety and integrity of our election and democracy. We are writing to offer our support for Public Citizen’s Petition for Rulemaking to Clarify the Law Against Fraudulent Misrepresentation,” the Democrats wrote. “Public Citizen is petitioning the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to clarify that 52 U.S.C. § 30124 includes deep fakes of an election candidate as a fraudulent misrepresentation.”
Within one day of Grok-2’s debut, “fake images of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and former President Obama appeared on X.”
“Candidate Trump has even gone as far as promoting false endorsements from celebrities like Taylor Swift on his social media platforms,” the congressional members noted.
They added that taking action on the matter is “critical for our democracy” and urged the FEC to “initiate the necessary emergency rulemaking process.”
The Democrats behind the letter include Reps. Shontel Brown (OH), Seth Magaziner (RI), Nikema Williams (GA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Dan Goldman (NY), Summer Lee (PA), and Greg Landsman (OH).
FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey responded to the letter in a statement on X: “Let me be clear: the First Amendment is not optional. I’ll never support shutting down political speech online, including your memes.”
