Politicians in the US have used deepfake to promote a law banning deepfakes

Lawmakers in Georgia, USA, showed a deepfake video with artificial images and voices of Senator Colton Moore and activist Mallory Staples at a committee hearing. In the video, they allegedly endorse a ban on the use of deepfakes in political communications.

Here's What We Know

Bill co-sponsor Brad Thomas said the development of visual AI tools is far outpacing regulation preventing abuse. A specific deepfake he created using publicly available tools for $50.

The committee voted 8 to 1 in favour of introducing the bill. If passed, it would criminalise election fraud and incitement to election interference. Offenders face prison sentences of 2 to 5 years and fines of up to $50,000.

The law also criminalises the publication, within 90 days of an election, of misleading material featuring an artificially created image or speech of a real person if it could affect the outcome of the election.

Moore and Staples opposed the bill. They argue it attacks memes and protected satire in political discourse.

However, Thomas said that "fraud is fraud" and the law aims to protect elections from AI manipulations.

Flashback

The problem of deepfakes being used in politics has already come up in the 2024 election. In January, a fake robocall on behalf of US President Joe Biden urged people not to vote for him in the New Hampshire primary.

There is no federal legislation in the US to regulate the use of AI in the electoral process. Instead, individual states are trying to pass laws on their own.

Experts warn that audio-deepfakes can easily mislead voters, as was the case with Biden. New Hampshire authorities then launched an investigation into an attempt to interfere in the election.

Source: The Guardian