California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed bills banning “deepfakes” ahead of the 2024 election.
“I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California,” he wrote on X, sharing a previous post in which he condemned Elon Musk’s use of an altered voice in an anti-Kamala Harris ad.
“You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content — including deepfakes,” Newsom said.
One bill, AB 2655, or the “Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024,” requires online platforms to “block the posting of materially deceptive content related to elections in California, during specified periods before and after an election,” a description reads.
Large online platforms are also required to “label certain additional content inauthentic, fake, or false during specified periods before and after an election in California” under the bill
Another bill, AB 2839, or “Elections: Deceptive Media in Advertisements,” prevents people from distributing content portraying a “candidate for any federal, state, or local elected office in California” as “doing or saying something that the candidate did not do or say if the content is reasonably likely to harm the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate.” Prohibited content under the bill includes, but is not limited to, “deepfakes.”
The third bill targeting “deepfakes” ahead of the election is AB 2355, the “Political Reform Act of 1974: Political Advertisements: Artificial Intelligence.” This bill requires there to be a “specified disclosure that the advertisement was generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence.”
Upon signing the bills, Newsom said in a statement, “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. 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.”
Musk responded to the laws by sharing the same AI-altered ad that Newsom condemned.
“The governor of California just made this parody video illegal in violation of the Constitution of the United States,” he wrote. “Would be a shame if it went viral.”
