Indiana and New Mexico Enact New Anti-Deepfake Laws; Dozens More To Come
In Latest Legislative Session, 38 States Introduced Bills to Regulate Deepfakes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, Indiana governor Eric Holcomb officially signed a new bill into law to regulate AI deepfakes in campaign communications. Last week, New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, signed a bill on the same subject — meaning both states have officially joined Texas, Minnesota, California, Washington and Michigan in enacting laws to protect elections against the threat of deepfakes. While the FEC has slow-walked federal action, state progress on this issue has been extremely rapid. In just the latest legislative session, 38 states introduced bills to regulate AI deepfakes, according to Public Citizen’s state bills tracker. Six of those bills— including the Indiana and New Mexico bills now enacted and bills in Utah, Wisconsin, Florida, and Oregon that are awaiting governor signatures — have been passed by both chambers of their state legislatures just this year. And state houses in 18 states have a bill that has passed in at least one chamber. Ilana Beller, a democracy advocate with Public Citizen, issued the following statement in response:“The urgency with which states are acting to pass anti-deepfake legislation is indicative of how serious of a threat generative AI is to our election security. From deep red states to deep blue states, state legislators are transcending partisanship to safeguard democracy ahead of the November elections, and Americans will be better for it. “The people with the power to act on this issue at the federal level should learn from their example.”To learn more about Public Citizen’s work to regulate AI deepfakes in 2024 and beyond, see our state bills tracker (updated regularly) or visit www.citizen.org/ai. To speak with an expert, contact Emily Leach at eleach@citizen.org.