Lawmakers Demand Federal Guardrails After AI Deepfakes Target Officials
U.S. lawmakers and public officials are calling for urgent federal regulations following a wave of AI-generated deepfakes targeting political figures and election integrity.
Lawmakers and public officials are raising alarms over the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes used to target political figures and influence elections. Recent incidents include a fake image of College Park, Georgia Mayor Bianca Motley Broom in a compromising position, as well as altered images of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdami and Senator Raphael Warnock. The White House also faced criticism after its official account posted a digitally altered image of Nekima Levy Armstrong.
In response to these attacks, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called for urgent federal guardrails to protect the public. Senator Raphael Warnock warned that the increasing power of these tools makes it harder to distinguish fact from fiction, which could be used to confuse voters shortly before elections. A poll by Rad Campaign and Women Who Tech found that 71% of respondents worry about AI disinformation affecting elections.
Legislative efforts to combat the technology have seen mixed results. Senator John Kennedy proposed a bill requiring AI firms to install a kill switch for rogue AI, but Senator Rand Paul blocked the measure, calling it premature. While Tennessee has enacted protections through the Elvis Act to prevent AI voice cloning, other states, including Georgia, have yet to pass specific deepfake legislation.
