Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom chuckled as he sat at the podium at a convention this week and signed three bills in California that would further restrict “deepfake” or “materially deceptive” election content, but defiant social media users still shared the AI election video that Newsom scorned.
On Tuesday, Newsom took the stage with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Dreamforce is a tech conference that calls itself “the world's largest AI event.”
“That's why it's so easy to govern.”
Though the event was aimed at promoting AI, Newsom and Benioff's conversation seemed to focus on issues related to AI, when Newsom said he has 38 AI-related bills on his desk. Digital ConcernsBenioff urged Newsom to use the Dreamforce conference to sign three bills regarding election advertising that include AI material.
“I thought, if politicians aren't going to do something, why waste my time?” Newsom said with a smile, holding a stack of papers in his hand, appearing to pull a pen from his jacket pocket and then appearing to sign three pieces of paper.
“It's now official,” he said. Laughing“This will provide an injunction if you create false reports about the election through 'deep fakes.'
“That's why it's so easy to govern.”
Newsom, Benioff, and the audience may have found the situation amusing, but many others invoice This could further erode First Amendment protections of free speech.
AB2655The bill, also known as the Protecting Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, would require online platforms to “block the posting of materially deceptive content related to California's elections” during specified periods around the election and to “label certain additional content as fake, false or deceptive.”
AB2355 The bill expands existing law to require commissions that create, publish, and/or distribute political ads to add a “disclosure” stating if the ad was “generated or substantially altered” using AI. The bill covers “images, audio, or video that have been generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence” that may give a reasonable person “a fundamentally different understanding of the altered media when compared to the unaltered version.”
AB2839 The bill also builds on existing laws that prohibit the knowing and malicious distribution of election materials that contain “certain materially false statements.” Previously, the law would have gone into effect 60 days before an election. Now, it will go into effect 120 days before an election, and in some cases up to 60 days after an election.
in statementNewsom argued that such restrictions are necessary for democracy.
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is essential to our democracy, and it is critical that we ensure AI is not used to undermine public trust through disinformation, especially in today's tense political climate,” Newsom said. “These measures will help combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content. This is one of several areas where the state is actively working to promote transparent and trustworthy AI.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, an avowed Trump supporter who recently moved several of his companies out of California due to the state's onerous laws, criticized Governor Newsom for his effective ban on parody election ads.
One recent viral video features a deepfake voice boasting that Kamala Harris is the “ultimate diversity hire” and has been “selected” as the Democratic presidential nominee after “Joe Biden finally shows his senility.”
Governor Newsom specifically cited the viral video in July as the kind of “manipulation” of election content that “should be illegal.”
Wednesday morning, mask Tweeted the video He reappeared, indicating that he has no intention of complying with the new California regulations: “The Governor of California has made this parody video illegal and in violation of the United States Constitution. It would be a shame if this went viral.”
TikTok's Libs also shared the video this week in response to California's new law, writing, “This is the video @GavinNewsom doesn't want you to see.” The account wrote.
comedian Rob Schneider Governor Newsom similarly denounced attempts to restrict the funny video: “Followers, please retweet this parody only as it is illegal in California…” he said.
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