Democratic State Senator Rebecca Millett has proposed a bill that would outlaw “deep fake” ads within 60 days of an election. These include ads in which a video might be altered to show a candidate saying they support some policy, when they actually oppose it.
“As the campaign cycle continues to ramp up, as we approach November, security in our election will remain a top issue,” says Millett. “This bill will take a proactive approach in addressing the use of deep fake technology to affect an election.”
Members of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee expressed interest in finding a way to block such ads, but were cautioned that federal law already governs political advertising on radio and TV and blocks stations from changing a candidate ad in any way. As for social media, which Suzanne Goucher of the Maine Association Of Broadcasters described as “the wild west” - there is no government oversight of political advertising.
“For third party ads, broadcasters have an obligation to investigate any claim of falsehood brought to them,” Goucher says. “Facebook, Twitter, social media, that’s the wild west.”
