Ah, deepfakes—just when you thought political ads couldn’t get any more ridiculous, along comes this digital menace. Thanks to many bipartisan efforts, state lawmakers are scrambling to catch up with technology that even your tech-averse grandma could spot. Yes, more than a dozen states have rushed to pass laws against deepfakes—those incredibly realistic but fake videos and audio created by AI. While some might see this as progress, the rest of us are left wondering if these measures will make any real difference.
States like Florida, New York, and Arizona have jumped on the deepfake legislation bandwagon this year, but the patchwork of rules is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. These laws require disclosures in political ads that use deepfake content, a move meant to protect voters from being duped. While some states, like Minnesota, have upped the ante by making candidates forfeit their positions if they violate deepfake laws, others are sticking with lighter penalties like fines or short jail time.
But expect these new laws to be something other than the end-all solution. The Department of Homeland Security is still sounding alarms about deepfakes’ potential to mislead voters, and Congress seems more interested in playing political hot potato than actually addressing the issue. With the 2024 elections looming, it’s clear that the federal response is lagging behind.
Arizona’s own Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who helped spearhead new legislation in his state, points out the obvious: deepfakes are a severe problem, but they’re not exactly a new kind of political trick. Kolodin’s law allows candidates to get a court order to declare manipulated content as deepfake—an attempt to give them a fighting chance against this digital deceit. Meanwhile, Big Tech companies like TikTok and Meta have made some moves to label AI content, but their efforts are more about optics than substance.
Despite these state-level actions, the story isn’t looking bright on the federal front. Bills to require deepfake labels have stalled in Congress, and while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is on board, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is skeptical, believing existing laws can cover the issue. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are both dragging their feet, with the FEC yet to finalize any rules and the FCC cautiously proposing new regulations.
In battleground states like Georgia, there’s no law yet to address deepfakes, showing just how fragmented the current efforts are. While some states are training election workers and running public awareness campaigns, it remains to be seen if these measures will effectively counter the digital onslaught.
So, as states and federal agencies fumble their way through a solution, voters are left to navigate a sea of misleading content. The solution, if it ever arrives, seems destined to be as patchy and ineffectual as the laws currently on the books.
