New California Laws Ban Political Deepfakes During Elections

Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a series of bills to curb the spread of manipulated political content.

One of them, Assembly Bill (AB) 2839, prohibits sharing election-related deepfakes and deceptive materials 120 days before and, in some cases, 60 days after an election. Previously, restrictions only applied 60 days before an election.

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Set to take effect in January are two additional laws aimed at further tightening controls on AI-generated political content. AB 2355 will require clear labeling on political ads that have been created or significantly altered using AI.

Meanwhile, AB 2655 targets social media platforms with over one million users in California, requiring them to remove misleading election-related content within 72 hours of being reported or face potential penalties.

The legislative push comes after an AI-altered video of Vice President Kamala Harris went viral on X. The video, which was posted on July 26 and reposted by Elon Musk, falsely depicted Harris referring to herself as an unqualified presidential candidate. It has been viewed over 30 million times and remains available on the platform.

By addressing the challenges posed by AI in the electoral process, California is setting a standard that could influence legislation in other states.

In other news, during the release of Apple's iPhone 16 on September 9, scammers flooded YouTube with live streams that featured AI-generated versions of Apple CEO Tim Cook.