Gov. Jeff Landry has vetoed a measure aimed to prohibit intentionally manipulated images, audio or videos known as “deepfakes” that are designed to deceive voters or harm the reputation of political candidates during election campaigns.
Landry vetoed House Bill 154 by Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans) on June 20, arguing that the bill’s provisions to guard against malicious political messages could run afoul of the First Amendment.
“While I applaud the efforts to prevent false political attacks, I believe this bill creates serious First Amendment concerns as it relates to emerging technologies,” the governor said in his veto message. “The law is far from settled on this issue, and I believe more information is needed before such regulations are enshrined into law.”
The House Concurrent Resolution 66, which passed the Legislature this year, provides a vehicle to study the issue of artificial-intelligence technology and how it could harm Louisianans and the state as a whole, Landry said.
In addition, the issue of AI innovation is unsettled at the federal level, according to the governor, who noted in his veto message that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have established a bipartisan commission to examine how to provide guardrails against AI threats.
HB 154 would have provided criminal penalties for violations of its provisions relating to political materials, to the tune of up to $10,000 per violation or up to two years in prison, with or without hard labor, according to the Legislature’s analysis of the bill. But the bill also exempted certain political expressions that are allowed under the First Amendment.
“(The) proposed law exempts material that constitutes a work of political commentary, criticism, satire or parody and that includes context and a disclosure sufficient to cause a reasonable person to understand that the material is not a factual or actual representation of a candidate,” the Legislature’s analysis states.
In addition, media entities and service providers with no control over the content of such videos, audios or images would have been exempted.
Public Citizen, a consumer-rights advocacy group, disagrees with the idea that deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence with the intent to deceive voters are protected by First Amendment freedoms.
“An AI-generated political deepfake takes someone's likeness – their face, their voice – and uses it to depict them doing or saying something that never happened with the intent to deceive voters,” Ilana Beller, the organizing manager of the Public Citizen Democracy Campaign, said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “This is fraud, and fraud is not protected by the First Amendment.”
Beller also indicated that governments can regulate speech when there is a compelling state interest.
“There is a compelling state interest in preventing people from using AI to deceive voters and undermine America’s free and fair elections,” she said.
Citizens of other nations have seen a rise in AI-generated deepfakes in the lead-up to elections over the past year, according to Beller, adding that the United States won’t be immune from the threat.
“... We are already seeing deepfakes being created and spread in the U.S. to deceive voters,” she said. “We expect that this will only increase as we approach the election this November.”
About 10 states have already enacted laws related to deepfake issues, according to The Associated Press. Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia have enacted laws providing criminal penalties for creating non-consensual deepfake pornography, the AP reported, and California and Illinois allow deepfake victims to sue those who create such audio-visual materials.