NEW YORK (AP) – Thursday’s Federal Communications Commission illegal robocalls Contains audio generated by artificial intelligencea decision that sends a clear message that misusing technology to deceive people and mislead voters will not be tolerated.
The unanimous ruling targets robocalls using AI voice cloning tools under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law that restricts nuisance calls that use artificial or prerecorded voice messages. There is.
The announcement comes as New Hampshire officials move forward. their investigation It participated in an AI-generated robocall imitating President Joe Biden’s voice in an effort to dissuade people from voting in the nation’s first primary election last month.
The regulation, effective immediately, would give the FCC the power to fine companies that use AI voices in phone calls or block service providers that offer AI voices. The FCC says this opens the door for call recipients to sue and gives state attorneys general a new mechanism to crack down on violators.
The chairman of the agency is jessica rosenworcel He said criminals are using AI-generated voices in robocalls to mislead voters, impersonate celebrities and blackmail families.
“It seems like a distant future, but this threat is already here,” Rosenworcel told The Associated Press on Wednesday as the commission considered the regulations. “We can all be on the receiving end of these fake calls, which is why we felt it was time to take action.”
Under consumer protection law, telemarketers generally cannot call cell phones using automatic dialers or artificial or prerecorded voice messages, and they cannot call cell phones without the call recipient’s prior written consent. Such calls cannot be made to landlines without consent.
According to the FCC, the new ruling classifies AI-generated voices in robocalls as “artificial,” making them enforceable under the same standards.
According to the FCC, those who violate the law can be subject to steep fines of up to $23,000 or more per call. The agency has previously used consumer law to crack down on robocallers who interfere in elections, including warning people in majority-Black neighborhoods that voting by mail risks arrest, debt collection and coercion. It also fined two conservative fraudsters $5 million for falsely warning that it could increase sex. vaccination.
The law also gives recipients of the calls the right to take legal action and seek damages of up to $1,500 for each unwanted call.
Rosenworcel said the commission began considering criminalizing robocalls after seeing an increase in robocalls using AI-generated voices. Last November, the case sought public comment, and in January, a bipartisan group of 26 state attorneys general sent a letter to the FCC asking it to move forward with the ruling.
Sophisticated generative AI tools, from voice cloning software to image generators, are already being used in elections in the United States and around the world.
As the US presidential election got into full swing last year, some election ads used AI-generated audio and images, and some candidates experimented with using AI chatbots to communicate with voters.
A bipartisan effort in Congress has sought to regulate AI in political activities, but no federal legislation has passed even though the general election is nine months away.
An AI-generated robocall that attempted to influence the New Hampshire primary on January 23rd used a voice similar to Biden’s, used the phrase Biden often uses, “What a disaster,” and called the primary election falsely suggested that voting in the United States would prevent voters from voting. Voting in November.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced Tuesday that investigators have identified Texas-based Life Inc. and its owner Walter Monk as the originators of the calls. The callers were thousands of state residents, most of them registered Democrats. He said the calls were sent by another Texas-based company, Ringo Telecom.
New Hampshire issued cease-and-desist orders and subpoenas to both companies, and the Federal Communications Commission issued cease-and-desist letters to both companies, Formella said. A task force made up of attorneys general from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to Life Corporation warning it to immediately stop making illegal calls.
Both Lingo Telecom and Life Corp. have been investigated in the past for suspected illegal robocalling, according to the FCC. In 2003, the FCC issued a citation to Life Corp. for distributing illegal prerecorded unsolicited advertisements to residential lines.
Most recently, the Attorney General’s Special Committee charged Lingo with being the gateway provider for 61 suspected illegal calls from overseas. The Federal Trade Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against Matrix Telecom, Lingo’s former name, in 2022. The following year, the task force required the company to take steps to protect its network.
Ringo Telecom said in a statement Tuesday that it “acted immediately” to assist in the investigation of robocalls impersonating Biden, and that it quickly identified and stopped Life Corporation when contacted by the task force. Ta. A Life Corporation sales representative declined to comment Thursday.
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