WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with oversight over federal elections, and Susan Collins (R-ME), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to assist state and local election officials in combating the spread of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated disinformation about our elections. Their letter follows reports of AI-generated deepfake robocalls using the President’s voice to discourage voting in the New Hampshire primary election.
“We are already seeing AI being used to target candidates and voters from both parties,” the Senators wrote. “Last week there were reports of AI-generated robocalls using the President’s voice to tell people not to vote in the primary election in New Hampshire, and AI-generated deepfakes have also impacted multiple Republican presidential candidates by deceptively showing them saying things that they never said.”
“We have introduced bipartisan legislation to address the challenges that this kind of deceptive AI-generated content poses to our democracy,” the Senators continued. “As this year’s primary elections are now underway, it is critical that those who administer our elections have the information necessary to address these emerging threats in a timely and effective way.”
Klobuchar has led efforts to address the threat of misleading AI-generated content in our elections.
In September 2023, Klobuchar and Collins, along with Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, and Chris Coons (D-DE), Chair of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, introduced the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, bipartisan legislation to ban the use of AI to generate materially deceptive content falsely depicting federal candidates to influence federal elections. This legislation has also been cosponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).
In October 2023, Klobuchar and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) sent a letter to the CEOs of Meta Platforms, Inc. and X Corp., Mark Zuckerberg and Linda Yaccarino, respectively, seeking information on how their organizations are addressing AI-generated content in political ads hosted on their social media platforms.
In July 2023, Klobuchar and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) encouraging the Commission to begin a rulemaking to regulate fraudulent AI-generated campaign ads.
In June 2023, Klobuchar and U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino for answers after reporting highlighted a significant reduction of staff dedicated to countering misinformation. In light of these layoffs, the senators expressed concerns about these companies’ ability to effectively respond to election-related disinformation, including deceptive AI-generated content about elections and campaigns.
In May 2023, Klobuchar and U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced the REAL Political Ads Act. This legislation would require a disclaimer on political ads that use images or video generated by artificial intelligence. Companion legislation is led in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Clarke (D-NY).
In February 2023, Klobuchar reintroduced the Honest Ads Act with U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Mark Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to improve the transparency and accountability of online political advertising by requiring online political advertisements to adhere to the same disclaimer requirements as TV, radio, and print ads.
The full text of the letter is available HERE and below:
Dear Commissioners:
We write to express serious concerns about the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content to spread disinformation about our elections and to urge the Election Assistance Commission to take additional steps to help state and local officials combat these threats.
We are already seeing AI being used to target candidates and voters from both parties. Last week there were reports of AI-generated robocalls using the President’s voice to tell people not to vote in the primary election in New Hampshire, and AI-generated deepfakes have also impacted multiple Republican presidential candidates by deceptively showing them saying things that they never said.
We have introduced bipartisan legislation to address the challenges that this kind of deceptive AI-generated content poses to our democracy. As this year’s primary elections are now underway, it is critical that those who administer our elections have the information necessary to address these emerging threats in a timely and effective way.
It is for these reasons that we urge the Election Assistance Commission to provide comprehensive guidance to state and local election administrators about how they can defend against AI-generated disinformation. We also ask that you take further action to ensure that officials are aware of the support and information that the Commission makes available, following the initial guidance that it released in August as the technology becomes more sophisticated and voters continue to cast ballots in this year’s elections.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your response.
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