Tracker: State Legislation on Deepfakes in Elections
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (A.I.) poses a myriad of serious threats to our democracy, from supercharging disinformation to making it easier to manipulate voters. One very acute concern shared by both parties is A.I. generated deepfakes in election communications. Deepfakes are A.I.-generated images, audio, or video depicting a candidate saying or doing things they never did to damage that candidate’s reputation and deceive voters.
Without regulation, deepfakes are likely to further confuse voters and undermine confidence in elections. A deepfake video could be released days or hours before an election with no time to debunk it – misleading voters and altering the outcome of the election.
State legislatures across the country are starting to pass urgently needed legislation to regulate deepfakes in elections, usually with bipartisan backing. So far, this legislation has received bipartisan support in every state where it has passed. The table below illustrates where states have passed or are in the process of debating legislation to regulate deepfakes in elections.
| STATE | BILL NO. | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| California | AB 730 | Enacted in Oct. 2019 |
| Illinois | SB 1742 | Introduced in Feb. 2023 |
| Kentucky | BR 26 | Bill Request |
| Michigan | HB 5144 | Enacted Nov. 2023 |
| Minnesota | HF 1370 | Enacted in May 2023 |
| New Jersey | A 5510 | Passed by the Assembly in June 2023 |
| New York | A 7106A | Introduced in May 2023 |
| New York | S 7592 | Introduced in July 2023 |
| Texas | SB 751 | Enacted in June 2019 |
| Washington | SB 5152 | Enacted in May 2023 |
| Wisconsin | SB 644 | Introduced November 2023 |
Last updated: November 30, 2023.
See an error or want to share information on state political deepfake legislation? Please contact Ilana Beller (ibeller@citizen.org).