Hawaii is the latest of more than a dozen states to pass legislation aimed at combating the threat that AI-generated content and deepfakes can pose to political campaigns, requiring either disclosure when content is not real or complete legislation. introduced either by enforcing a prohibition;
State Rep. Trish La Chica (D-Waipio Mililani) said Hawaii lawmakers are coordinating with multiple states on several bills targeting deepfakes to align with broader national efforts. He said he is doing so.
“The purpose of this law is to combat political misinformation because we want to protect the integrity of state elections by preventing the spread of deceptive and fraudulent deepfakes that undermine public trust in government.” said La Chica.
A deepfake is an AI-generated image, audio, or video that shows a candidate doing or saying something they have never done in real life. The use of deepfakes has become a hot topic in recent months, alarming the public, activists and lawmakers.
Two bills in Hawaii would ban false information about candidates or political parties, and another would make it a crime to distribute or attempt to distribute false political messages.
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The state House and Senate version, sponsored by Mr. La Chica and Sen. Carl Rose (D-Nu’uana), would require the Hawaii State Election Expenditure Commission to investigate false information and identify the victims of false messages in the last 90 years. It would give the government the power to impose fines, including awarding money, to people who violate the law. Election days.
The move in Hawaii comes as the 2024 contest is already hit by misinformation. Just before January’s New Hampshire primary, Democratic voters received a fake robocall from President Joe Biden that appeared to be instructing them not to go to the polls. “Save your vote for the November election,” the voice said, turned out to be generated by AI, with no clue as to its creator.
And in 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign released an AI-generated image of former President Donald Trump embracing his political nemesis, Dr. Anthony Fauci. The Republican front-runner also used a doctored image, which his campaign said was clearly fake content or a meme.
To date, five states have already enacted laws restricting AI in political communications: Michigan, Minnesota, California, Washington, and Texas. Bills are being considered in battleground states such as Wisconsin, Florida and New York, but it remains unclear whether they will be completed in time for this year’s local, state and federal elections.
“It’s a big problem for democracy.”
La Chica emphasized that it is critical to prevent political weaponization in Hawaii, where a candidate’s election to the state House and Senate is decided by just a few hundred or even a few thousand votes.
“We’re trying to get ahead of this. And it’s very positive news that this bill is scheduled early, even if it’s a single referral, which means it’s a priority.” “I do,” La Chica said.
The bill also has support from nonprofit democratic organizations such as Public Citizen and Common Cause Hawaii. Kamron Hart, program manager at Common Cause Hawaii, said the threat of AI deepfakes is “a huge problem for democracies today.”
With bipartisan support, Rose hopes the bill will pass and go into effect before Hawaii’s Aug. 10 primary election.
“The problem is solved. Technology has outpaced our laws. But now we need to catch up, and we can help lead the charge to ensure harmful AI deepfakes and the like “It’s important to make sure that they are removed from all ways of participating in elections,” Hart said.
Jeremy Yurow is a political reporting fellow at the USA TODAY Network based in Hawaii. Please contact jeremy.yurow@gannett.com.
