FEC Declines to Consider Public Citizen Petition to Ban or Regulate Political Deepfakes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) in a 3-3 vote declined to consider a Public Citizen petition calling on the agency to regulate or ban political deepfakes. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“The Federal Election Commission just shamefully refused to use its existing authority – or even accept comments on a proposal to use its existing authority – to address the oncoming stampede of deceptive deepfakes that threaten to trample our democracy. This is a shocking failure even for a notoriously feckless agency. The FEC’s failure makes it even more imperative that Congress and states act immediately to outlaw deceptive deepfakes in elections.”