{"id":31828,"date":"2026-08-08T03:15:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31828"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:15:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:15:36","slug":"voters-face-uneven-ai-deepfake-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31828","title":{"rendered":"Voters face uneven AI deepfake protections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/oJg8Y\/fallback.png\" \/><\/p>\n<div>Data: <a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https%3A\/\/www.ncsl.org\/elections-and-campaigns\/artificial-intelligence-ai-in-elections-and-campaigns__;!!Al82Z4c!xFNHXrvRZ_t9wKk2Y6eX8vFdaXO88FkBNZm3LPfkpoa-wMUnYjAT_eszSRYxW3U__vI6v_pgcNpHZ_czltaqgktdem0_-w$\" target=\"_blank\">NCSL<\/a>; Map: Sara Wise\/Axios<\/div>\n<p>Americans across the country could have very different experiences with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/technology\/automation-and-ai\" target=\"_blank\">AI<\/a> deepfakes leading up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/2026-midterm-elections\" target=\"_blank\">Election Day<\/a>, thanks to a patchwork of state rules.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>AI-generated attack ads and campaign content are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/16\/ai-deepfake-ads-campaigns-midterms\" target=\"_blank\">rampant<\/a> leading up to the midterms as candidates across the political spectrum use<strong> <\/strong>the technology.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>State of play: <\/strong>Twenty-nine states have AI election deepfake laws in effect, while two others \u2014 California and Hawaii \u2014 have had their laws permanently enjoined, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/elections-and-campaigns\/artificial-intelligence-ai-in-elections-and-campaigns\" target=\"_blank\">National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Minnesota and Texas prohibit political deepfakes for a certain number of days before an election. Maryland&#8217;s ban is year-round.<\/li>\n<li>The other states require disclosures when AI is used in political ads. Some states like Colorado and Utah require more detailed disclosures, such as the deepfake&#8217;s creator, when it was created and how it was edited.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Friction point: <\/strong>California&#8217;s and Hawaii&#8217;s AI deepfakes laws were struck down in court on First Amendment grounds. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Both states are pressing ahead with alternative approaches that don&#8217;t specifically regulate election AI deepfakes.<\/li>\n<li>California&#8217;s AI Transparency Act, part of which went into effect on August 3, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article316753350.html\" target=\"_blank\">requires disclosures<\/a> of AI-generated images, and Hawaii <a href=\"https:\/\/alohastatedaily.com\/2026\/07\/15\/green-signs-laws-restricting-ai\/\" target=\"_blank\">last month<\/a> passed a law prohibiting deepfakes in ads without the subject&#8217;s consent.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The big picture: <\/strong>At the federal level, lawmakers have yet to establish a baseline standard for election AI deepfakes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zoom out: <\/strong>Congress&#8217; first AI deepfakes law addressed a different issue.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Take it Down Act, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/20\/ai-ads-democrats-congress-2026-midterms-videos\" target=\"_blank\">took effect<\/a> in May, marked Congress&#8217; first attempt at tackling non-consensual intimate imagery \u2014 an issue that has collided with election ads targeting women lawmakers.<\/li>\n<li>Passing the law was one thing. Implementing it effectively is another, advocates say, citing inconsistent removal processes of posts and predicting litigation will be needed to secure strong enforcement. <\/li>\n<li>Lawmakers are also seeking to build on that first step, with House Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/20\/ai-ads-democrats-congress-2026-midterms-videos\" target=\"_blank\">planning to push<\/a> legislation next year specifically targeting election deepfakes if they regain power.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line: <\/strong>Proposals to tackle AI in elections have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/pro\/tech-policy\/2024\/05\/13\/klobuchar-wants-to-ban-deceptive-ai-in-elections\" target=\"_blank\">floated in Congress<\/a> for years, but states have moved faster \u2014 creating different realities for voters depending on where they live. <\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Data: NCSL; Map: Sara Wise\/Axios Americans across the country could have very different experiences with AI deepfakes leading up to Election Day, thanks to a patchwork of state rules. Why it matters: AI-generated attack ads and campaign content are rampant leading up to the midterms as candidates across the political spectrum use the technology. State&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/oJg8Y\/fallback.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}