Credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-of-its-kind “deepfake” law after conservatives created a powerful and hilarious parody video mocking Kamala Harris’s candidacy.
In a post on the X platform, Newsom confirmed that he had signed the bill after Elon Musk shared the anti-Kamala video using an altered version of her voice.
I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content — including deepfakes. https://t.co/VU4b8RBf6N
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2024
Politico has all the details:
The new California law — which will take effect before the November election — channels rising alarm about artificial intelligence’s capacity to disrupt elections by sowing misinformation, with voters increasingly confronted with deepfake images and audio impersonating candidates. Musk, who owns X, stoked that debate when he shared the AI-altered video of Harris in July, drawing Newsom’s public promise to prohibit similar practices.
“I could care less if it was Harris or Trump,” Newsom told Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff during a conversation on Tuesday. “It was just wrong on every level.”
Newsom also signed a companion bill on Tuesday that targets deepfakes by compelling platforms to pull down such content when users flag them, although that bill will not take effect until next year. He signed a third measurerequiring disclaimers on political ads that use AI.
The LA Times reported had this to say on the new law AB2839:
One of the new laws, AB 2839, aims to curb manipulated content that could harm a candidate’s reputation or or public confidence in an election’s outcome, with the exception of parody and satire. Under the legislation, a candidate, election committee or elections official could seek a court order to get deep fakes pulled down. They could also sue the person who distributed or republished the deceptive material for damages.
The other bills signed include AB 2655, which requires technology platforms to have procedures for identifying, removing and labeling fake content. This also exempts parody, satire and news outlets that meet certain requirements. AB 2355 requires a committee that creates a political ad to disclose if it was generated or substantially altered using AI.
As pointed out by the popular End Wokeness account, it is of paramount importance that people do not watch or distribute the ad in question so as not to run afoul of Newsom’s law.
Governor Newsom just signed AB-2655 in response to this meme going viral.
The law could force to ban this video.
DO NOT MAKE IT GO VIRAL AGAIN.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 18, 2024
Ironically, Elon Musk has indicated that he supports a separate bill being pushed through the California legislature because of the potential risks AI poses in the future.
“This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill,” he admitted last month.
“For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk to the public.”
This is a tough call and will make some people upset, but, all things considered, I think California should probably pass the SB 1047 AI safety bill.
For over 20 years, I have been an advocate for AI regulation, just as we regulate any product/technology that is a potential risk…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2024
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