A bill from the California legislature could prevent the distribution of memes in election season because they could be deceptive or damage a political candidate's reputation.
The bill is called the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024 and is ready for Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom's signature. The governor has until the end of September 2024 to sign it into law.
The bill's digest notes that existing law prohibits any person or entity from distributing deceptive audio or visual media about a candidate for elected office within 60 days of the election if it intends to "injure the candidate’s reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate. "
The new bill would require any "large online platform" to block content deemed deceptive during the periods before and after an election.
As such, social media platforms would be required to label content as "inauthentic, fake, or false" during these specified periods, which would be 120 days before an election and 60 days after an election, per Reclaim the Net.
Simply put, if any memes or images contain AI-generated material about a candidate or anything that would damage the candidate's reputation, they could be taken down in California.
Political ad campaigns would have to disclose if their ads contained content generated by artificial intelligence.
Platforms would also be required under the law to develop reporting procedures for California residents so that they can flag any content that "has not been blocked or labeled in compliance with the act."
If platforms do not comply, candidates, officials, elections officials, the attorney general, and district or city attorneys could sue the websites.
The bill said it would "exempt content that is satire or parody," but at whose discretion is still up in the air. Despite this caveat, Governor Newsom has already vocalized support for legislation banning parody.
After X owner Elon Musk reshared an obviously fake Kamala Harris campaign ad, Newsom called for similar content to be illegal.
"Manipulating a voice in an 'ad' like this one should be illegal," Newsom wrote on July 28. "I'll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is."
Musk retorted, "I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America."
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