X Sues California Over Deepfake Law, Citing First Amendment Concerns

Musk's X Sues California's Deepfake Law, Citing Free Speech

Disclaimer: This content generated by AI & may have errors or hallucinations. Edit before use. Read our Terms of use Elon Musk-led social media platform X has filed a lawsuit against California's Deepfake Deception Act, 2024, contending that the bill allegedly violates the Constitutional provision of free speech, reported Bloomberg. The company claims that the bill undermines the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which aims to protect criticism of the government, including "tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms." Formally known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, this legislation calls upon large online platforms to employ state-of-the-art techniques to remove "materially deceptive content" during the 120 days before an election in California. Within the law, such content is defined as audio or visual media that is modified or created digitally, including deepfakes, outputs by chatbots, and more. The online platforms must also facilitate a mechanism for users to report deceptive content, after which they must respond to the complainant within 36 hours of the report, stipulating the status of the report and any action taken. Finally, for any reported "materially deceptive content" that was posted either outside the defined 120-day period or that is present within an advertisement or election communication outside the mentioned categories, the platform must issue a label stating that the content has been manipulated. The law will come into effect from January 1, 2025. Deepfakes are generally classified as false, digitally altered images and videos created using artificial intelligence to display "fake" events. Deepfake content surged by 3000% in n 2023 alone, according to Onfido's Identity Fraud Report 2024 highlighting the growing prevalence of AI-manipulated media. Several concerns have also been expressed about the impact of deepfakes and AI-generated content in influencing voter perceptions during elections. In a study by Kapwing tracking deepfake video requests, US' forthcoming President Donald Trump topped the list with more than 12,000 such requests. Politicians such as Joe Biden with over 7,000 such requests, Arnold Schwarzenegger with over 1200 requests and others were also mentioned within the list. Among many such deepfakes, that of US President Joe Biden delivering a fake speech after dropping out of the presidential race was also doing rounds on social media platform X. During India's General Election 2024, deepfake videos of politicians engaging in false activities were also found across social media platforms. In January this year, Tamil Nadu's former Chief Minister (CM) M. Karunanidhi who (passed away in 2018) appeared in an AI video, during which he praised the southern state's current CM M.K. Stalin for "good governance". According to the political party's spokesperson, the same was done to "enthuse party cadres", the Rest of the World reported. Besides this, several other instances of using generative AI constructively to initiate a more personalised appeal to voters, among other strategies, have also been seen in India. However, this phenomenon contradicts pre-poll surveys in the country, which expressed concerns over the integration of AI in elections challenging democracy. Furthermore, several experts who spoke at the MediaNama event on 'Fact Checking and Combating Misinformation in Elections', earlier this year, contended that conventional methods of spreading misinformation surpassed the use of AI in doing so during the elections. Significantly, the speakers also noted that a downside to the inclusion of AI was the technology enabling political parties with plausible deniability concerning political blunders. To explain, politicians could potentially disregard evidence of their statements, labelling it as "deepfakes", and eroding faith in accurate information. Speaking about the overall use of AI during India's Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the speakers at the event stated the following: At the event, the speakers also concluded that while AI-generated misinformation didn't adversely affect democracy during the 2024 election, deepfakes and AI could be employed to push multiple narratives by political parties in the future. Although India lacks any specific laws monitoring deepfakes and AI-related crimes; however, in May this year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced that a separate Act to regulate deepfakes could be in the works in the future. Before this, in April 2024, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also stated that the government is working on a law on artificial intelligence to protect the rights of news publishers and content creators while tackling user harm. Besides these potential laws, specific provisions of the Information and Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 can currently regulate deepfake crimes.

X Sues To Block California Bill Cracking Down on Election Deepfakes

Elon Musk's X has sued in an attempt to block a new California law aimed at cracking down on deepfakes around election time, claiming it violates the First Amendment. Assembly Bill 2655, also known as the "Defending Democracy From Deepfake Deception Act of 2024" looks to block "inauthentic, fake, or false" deepfake content 120 days before or after an election in California. Senator Gavin Newsom signed the bill in September, saying it was "critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public's trust through disinformation - especially in today's fraught political climate." The bill would also give election officials and candidates the power to sue in response to misleading election deepfakes. X's complaint alleged that the new bill would "result in the censorship of wide swaths of valuable political speech" and would also violate the First Amendment. It argues that the new law would have the impact of "replacing the judgments of covered platforms about what content belongs on their platforms with the judgments of the State." As a result, X says it would incentivize online platforms to "err on the side of removing and/or labeling any content that presents even a close call" when it comes to being "materially deceptive." Though this is the first piece of official legal action from the social network, the company's controversial CEO was already openly critical of the move. In September, Musk said Senator Gavin Newsom had "signed a LAW to make parody illegal" in a post on X. OpenAI recently released statistics showing how there had been an abundance of requests to generate deepfakes ahead of the election. ChatGPT allegedly rejected over 250,000 requests to generate Dall-E images of candidates in the month before the US presidential election, as part of its wider campaign to stop election interference. Midjourney, another popular AI image generator, put out a similar ban on images of presidential candidates ahead of the 2024 elections, highlighting the difficulties of moderating these types of images. X's latest chatbot for premium users, Grok-2, adopted a different approach. It currently allows you to generate images of political figures such as President-elect Donald Trump holding Vice President Kamala Harris's pregnant belly according to some users.

Elon Musk's X platform sues California over "Deepfake Detection Act" law on election content

Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is suing California over a new law targeting deceptive, AI-generated election content claiming it violates First Amendment protections to free speech. The law requires social media companies to block and remove "materially deceptive" content related to elections and candidates beginning 120 days before an election in California, as well as 60 days after an election if the content pertains to election officials. The measure also compels online platforms to label so-called deepfake content as being inauthentic and set up procedures for California residents to report content that is not in compliance. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2655, known as the "Defending Democracy From Deepfake Deception Act of 2024," into law in September, one of three laws he signed cracking down on AI election deepfakes. According to X's complaint filed Thursday in Sacramento federal court, first reported by Bloomberg News, the law would lead to widespread censorship of political speech. "There is a long history of the strongest of First Amendment protections for speech critical of government officials and candidates for public office that includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms," according to the complaint cited by Bloomberg. The lawsuit comes just weeks after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against a related measure, AB 2839, allowing any person to sue for damages over election deepfakes. U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez said that while artificial intelligence and deepfakes pose significant risks, the law likely violates the First Amendment. The injunction came after a person who creates parody videos, including altered audios of Vice President Kamala Harris, filed a lawsuit claiming free speech censorship and saying the law would allow anyone to take legal action over content they dislike. One of his videos was shared by Musk on his X platform, prompting Newsom to vow to ban such content on a post on X. Newsom's office says the laws against AI-generated election content do not ban satire and parodies, but requires the disclosure of the use of AI to be displayed. More than half of U.S. states have passed or are considering bills to crack down on AI-generated election communications, according to a report from Axios.

Elon Musk's X platform sues California over law targeting AI deepfakes, deceptive election content

Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is suing California over a new law targeting deceptive, AI-generated election content claiming it violates First Amendment protections to free speech. The law requires social media companies to block and remove "materially deceptive" content related to elections and candidates beginning 120 days before an election in California, as well as 60 days after an election if the content pertains to election officials. The measure also compels online platforms to label so-called deepfake content as being inauthentic and set up procedures for California residents to report content that is not in compliance. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2655, known as the "Defending Democracy From Deepfake Deception Act of 2024," into law in September, one of three laws he signed cracking down on AI election deepfakes. According to X's complaint filed Thursday in Sacramento federal court, first reported by Bloomberg News, the law would lead to widespread censorship of political speech. "There is a long history of the strongest of First Amendment protections for speech critical of government officials and candidates for public office that includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms," according to the complaint cited by Bloomberg. The lawsuit comes just weeks after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against a related measure, AB 2839, allowing any person to sue for damages over election deepfakes. U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez said that while artificial intelligence and deepfakes pose significant risks, the law likely violates the First Amendment. The injunction came after a person who creates parody videos, including altered audios of Vice President Kamala Harris, filed a lawsuit claiming free speech censorship and saying the law would allow anyone to take legal action over content they dislike. One of his videos was shared by Musk on his X platform, prompting Newsom to vow to ban such content on a post on X. Newsom's office says the laws against AI-generated election content do not ban satire and parodies, but requires the disclosure of the use of AI to be displayed. More than half of U.S. states have passed or are considering bills to crack down on AI-generated election communications, according to a report from Axios.

Elon Musk's X sues to block California law that aims to combat election deepfakes

By Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times The Tribune Content Agency X, the social media app owned by Elon Musk, has sued California in an attempt to block a new law requiring large online platforms to remove or label deceptive election content. The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, targets a law that aims to combat harmful videos, images and audio that have been altered or created with artificial intelligence. Known as deepfakes, this type of content can make it appear as if a person said or did something they didn't. The law is scheduled to take effect Jan.1. Assembly Bill 2655 was one of three bills California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this year to address growing concerns about deepfakes ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. California lawmakers have been trying to mitigate technology's potential risks but also face backlash from powerful tech executives wary of efforts they see as possibly restricting users' online speech. The focus on election deepfakes came after Newsom sparred online with Musk, who shared a viral video of Vice President Kamala Harris that used AI to alter what the Democrat said in one of her campaign ads. Republican Donald Trump, who had Musk's strong backing in his successful run to reclaim the presidency, also posted deepfake images of Taylor Swift that falsely suggested the megastar had endorsed him. X alleges the new law would prompt social media sites to lean toward labeling or removing legitimate election content out of caution. "This system will inevitably result in the censorship of wide swaths of valuable political speech and commentary," the lawsuit states. According to the lawsuit, the law runs afoul of free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution and a federal law known as Section 230, which shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content. X, which moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas this year, is suing California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber to block the law. "The California Department of Justice has been and will continue to vigorously defend AB 2655 in court," a spokesperson for Bonta said in a statement. X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, and the secretary of state's office said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who introduced AB 2655, said in a statement that he had reached out to X representatives to gather feedback about the legislation before lawmakers voted on it. "I had hoped they would engage constructively with me during the legislative process. I was not surprised when they did not. I defer to the DOJ on any lawsuits," Berman said in a statement. Newsom's office noted that AB 2655, known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, exempts parody and satire content. The governor's office said it's confident the state will prevail in court. "Deepfakes threaten the integrity of our elections, and these new laws protect our democracy while preserving free speech - in a manner no more stringent than those in other states, including deep-red Alabama and Mississippi," Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement. X, though, alleges it would be difficult for social media companies to determine whether a user's post was meant in jest, noting that opinions on the AI-altered video of Harris differed. X along with social media giants such as Facebook's parent company Meta, TikTok and Google-owned YouTube have policies about manipulated media. X's rules bar users from sharing deceptive manipulated media that could lead to harm and says that in some cases this content may be labeled. Although Musk has declared himself a "free speech absolutist," the company's approach to enforcing the platform's rules is to restrict the reach of potentially offensive posts rather than pull them down. However, regulators, civil rights groups and users have criticized social media platforms, including X, for not doing enough to enforce their own rules. With an increase in AI-generated election misinformation appearing on social media, the laws passed in the run-up to this month's election were meant to bolster one California already had on the books, which bars people from distributing deceptive audio or visual media intended to harm a candidate's reputation or deceive a voter within several weeks of an election. In October, a federal judge blocked another of those laws, Assembly Bill 2839, while a legal challenge to it plays out. That law would prohibit the distribution of deceptive campaign ads or "election communication" within 120 days of an election. And X has tried to block new California laws that target social media platforms before. Last year, Musk sued over another state law that requires platforms to disclose how they moderate content. X failed to block AB 587 but then won an appeal in September.

X sues to block California anti-deepfakes bill

Per Bloomberg, X, Elon Musk's social media company, has sued to block California law AB 2655, which requires large online platforms to remove or label AI deepfakes related to elections. X argues that the law, also known as the "Defending Democracy From Deepfake Deception Act of 2024," will lead to widespread censorship of political speech. "There is a long history of the strongest of First Amendment protections for speech critical of government officials and candidates for public office that includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms," a complaint filed late Thursday in Sacramento federal court reads. AB 2655 imposes other requirements on platforms that X finds onerous, including establishing channels to report political deepfakes and a mechanism to allow candidates and elected officials to seek injunctive relief if a platform isn't complying with the act. The suit comes weeks after a federal judge temporarily blocked a related California deepfakes law to ban deceptive campaign ads online.

X sues California over deceptive AI-made election content ban

The state calls it election disinformation. X calls it censorship. Elon Musk's X is taking the state of California to court over a new law that prevents the spread of AI-generated election misinformation. reports that X filed a lawsuit against AB 2655, also known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, in a Sacramento federal court. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on September 17, creating accountability standards for using false political speech faked with AI programs close to an election. The legislation prevents the distribution of "materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate within 60 days of an election at which the candidate will appear on the ballet." X argues that the law will create more political speech censorship. The complaint says the First Amendment "includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms." Newsom signed AB 2655 into law as part of a large package of bills addressing concerns about the use of AI to create sexually explicit deepfakes and other deceptive material. The next day, a federal judge issued against the law and other bills from Newsom's signing. California has become one of the epicenters of debate over the use and implementation of AI. Concerns about the use of AI in film and television projects, among other issues, prompted to go on strike in 2023. SAG eventually reached a deal that included AI protections for actors prohibiting studios from using their likeness without permission or proper compensation. The following year, the state of California passed AB 2602, a law that makes it illegal for studios, publishers and video game studios to use someone's likeness without their permission.