The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday advanced a proposal to disclose the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising, a plan that recently drew opposition from the Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission.
Lectures The current state of fairness in AmericaSpeaking at a forum hosted by U.S. News, Jessica Rosenworcel said that when addressing issues such as artificial intelligence in elections, officials must look at current law and try to understand what they can do with the authority they have.
“The FCC has had policy for decades that requires all election ads to be publicly disclosed, including who sponsored them, how much they paid, and when they ran,” she said. “So we're just proposing that they should also disclose whether they used AI technology.”
Rosenworcel added that while his plan would be limited to radio and television broadcasting, it would set “very helpful standards.”
“This is based on the idea that disclosure and transparency are important, and when it comes to AI, I think that's the right place to start,” she said.
The chairman pointed to a recent incident in which New Hampshire voters received an AI-generated automated phone call sounding like President Joe Biden's voice urging them not to vote in the state's January presidential primary.
The following month, the FCC unanimously ruled that such “synthetic” calls were illegal under the existing Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. took effect immediately It also bans individuals or entities from using voice duplication technology to make robocalls, and allows the Commission to “take steps to block calls from telephone companies that facilitate unlawful robocalls” and allows individuals and entities to bring lawsuits against robocallers.
In May, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office announced that a Louisiana political consultant had been indicted in connection with the robocalls. Steven Cramer is now charged with 13 felony and 13 misdemeanor counts of voter suppression. FCC $6 million fine recommended The company was fined over the robocalls, and Lingo Telecom, the company that made the calls, was fined $2 million.
Rosenworcel said he and New Hampshire's Republican attorney general “joined forces” in a “bipartisan effort” to go after Cramer and Ringo Telecom.
“We were trying to send a clear signal before the election that if you get involved in any of this crap, we're going to find you.”
She said blocking the calls “has to be a joint federal and state effort,” adding that state attorneys general are “really strong partners” to federal agencies.
Rosenworcel said he has visited top prosecutors in every state and gotten 49 of 50 of them to sign memoranda of understanding to work together to stop the phenomenon. “They're going to hear about what's going on in their backyard before I do,” he said.
“If I can develop a relationship where they're willing to help me try and track down the people responsible, I can start to work my way back up the network to where that call came from,” she said, “and if we work together, we might be able to hold those people accountable sooner.”
Only Nebraska has yet to accept her request. “The water is fine,” she joked, adding that officials plan to persuade the state.
The disclosure proposal has faced resistance. Her comments on Wednesday came just days after Federal Election Commission Chairman Sean Cooksey slammed the plan, saying it would “disrupt political campaigns.”
in Long Letter Cooksey, a Republican, told Rosenworcel that the proposed restrictions could conflict with rules the agency is considering and could confuse both voters and advertisers.
“If the FCC were to move forward with a final rule on this issue, the proposed regulations could create irreconcilable conflicts between the agency's respective statutes and rules,” Cooksey said, adding that litigation could be an option if the FCC continues with its plans.
“Only the FEC has the authority to 'interpret, administer, and enforce' the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,” he said, adding, “I contend that the FCC lacks the legal authority to promulgate conflicting disclaimers solely with respect to political communications.”
With less than 160 days until the November election, the race to regulate AI use in election campaigns is accelerating amid growing concerns about its misuse. expressed concern He said releasing audio recordings of interviews between Biden and special counsel Robert Hur, as requested by Republicans, could encourage the creation of deep fakes, and acknowledged that the government cannot stop the tool from being used in elections.
Tech companies have already made some election-related efforts public, including the AI Elections Compact and White House pledges, but some lawmakers say that's not enough and point to federal action.
While no rules have been enacted yet, the Senate Rules Committee has approved three bills on AI in elections, a topic that has emerged as a bipartisan priority, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the bills important.
But Congress has so far been unable to pass a bill and interagency squabbles continue, so a permanent solution, even Rosenworcel's proposal, may not be possible before November.
