California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Sept. 17 to address altered videos and other digitally created content known as deepfakes that could impact candidates and election campaigns.
The laws are meant to remove deepfake content of officials or candidates from major online platforms, “increase accountability, and better inform voters,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
“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 said in a statement.
Assembly Bill 2655, introduced by Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto), requires online companies with more than 1 million California users to label or remove “materially deceptive” media portraying an official or a candidate for elective office during the period from 120 days before an election to 60 days after. It also requires companies to create a mechanism to report such content….