A new law in California could lead to legal consequences for those who post or share AI-generated deepfakes on social media that mislead voters about upcoming elections. Governor Gavin Newsom indicated that AB 2839, which went into effect immediately after he signed it on Tuesday, could be used to target Elon Musk’s retweets and others who spread misleading content.
“I just signed a bill making this illegal in the state of California,” Newsom tweeted, referring to an AI-generated fake that Musk shared earlier this year, where Kamala Harris appeared to describe herself as an incompetent candidate hired for diversity reasons (which she did not).
In his post, Newsom emphasized that it is now illegal to knowingly distribute election-related ads or communications that include materially misleading content, such as deepfakes.
The new law targets those who distribute AI deepfakes, particularly if the content resembles a candidate on California ballots and the author knows it’s false, causing confusion. What’s unique about AB 2839 is that it doesn’t go after the creators of deepfakes or the platforms where they appear but rather those who maliciously distribute them. Anyone who comes across an AI deepfake on social media can now seek an injunction, meaning a judge could order the author to remove it or impose financial penalties on the person who posted it.
This law is one of the strictest in the U.S. regarding AI-generated election-related fakes, ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
The California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), a co-sponsor that helped draft AB 2839, told TechCrunch that this law could affect any social media user, not just Musk, who shares election-related AI fakes with malicious intent. “Malicious” means the author knew it was false and could mislead voters.
“[AB 2839] targets creators or distributors of content if the content falls under the law’s terms,” said CITED’s policy director, Leora Gershenzon. “It’s about misleading content distributed with knowledge of its falsity, reckless disregard for the truth, and the likelihood of influencing elections.”
When asked if Musk could face legal action for reposting deepfakes, Newsom did not rule out the possibility.
“I don’t think Mr. Musk got the final message,” Governor Newsom said at a press conference on Thursday. “Parody is still allowed in California, but fake election manipulations harm democracy.”
Specifically, the new law prohibits AI deepfakes related to elections on TV, radio, phone calls, text messages, or any communication “distributed over the internet.” The bill doesn’t just target political campaign ads, which have been the focus of other laws, but also posts by ordinary people. AB 2839 establishes a window (120 days before an election in California and 60 days after) where stricter rules apply to what can and cannot be posted about political candidates on social media.
“The real goal isn’t compensation or injunctions,” Gershenzon said. “It’s simply to prevent people from doing it in the first place. That would be the best outcome…that these deepfakes don’t fraudulently impact our elections.”
The law applies to candidates for state and local elections in California, as well as federal candidates appearing on the California ballot, such as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. If an AI fake clearly includes a disclaimer stating it has been digitally altered, then AB 2839 does not apply to it.
Musk is already testing California’s willingness to enforce the new law. On Tuesday, Musk shared a fake image resembling Kamala Harris, which Newsom referenced in his tweet, garnering more than 31 million impressions on X. On Wednesday, Musk also reposted a fake AI-generated image resembling Governor Newsom, which received over 7 million impressions.
Musk and X are also facing other legal challenges related to content moderation. For example, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge fined X Corporation on Thursday for defying the country’s ban on the platform. The judge previously said that X’s failure to combat fake news and hate speech was harming Brazil’s democracy.
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director