CfA Pushes for Regulation of Campaign Deepfakes
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** CfA's October 20, 2023 Newsletter
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With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.
** This Week's Updates:
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CfA Submits Comment on Campaign Deepfakes
Thanks to open-source AI software, it’s easier than ever for individuals (or political campaigns) to create convincing deepfakes of candidates. Similar technology has already been used by the DeSantis campaign to create still images ([link removed]) of President Trump embracing Dr. Anthony Fauci, which were quickly dismissed as false. While the Federal Election Commission agreed to at least accept public comments around deepfakes, multiple commissioners have expressed clear hesitancy—claiming that they do not have jurisdiction over this type of fraud.
But they do indeed have jurisdiction, as Public Citizen argued in its petition for rulemaking ([link removed]) . In a comment concurring with that petition, sent to the Commission on Monday ([link removed]) , CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith urged the unconvinced commissioners to reconsider. Her comment outlines how the skeptical commissioners are clearly failing to consider the deepfake’s ability to speak “on behalf” of other candidates—which unequivocally falls within the Commissioners’ jurisdiction to hold people accountable for “fraudulent misrepresentation.”
Combined with a separate FEC rulemaking that exempted “promoted” online videos from needing “Paid for” disclosures, a campaign could hypothetically upload a deepfaked video of candidate saying something damaging and then pay to “boost” it across social media platforms—all without adding any “paid for” disclaimer. If the FEC declines to act, this type of super-charged misinformation could become an acceptable practice in federal elections.
How Platform Changes Weakened X Ahead of Israel-Hamas Conflict
Twitter’s old content moderation regime wasn’t perfect, but the events of the past two weeks have shown that certain safeguards existed for a reason, and that Elon Musk’s X is struggling without them. Beginning with paid verification ([link removed]) and the loss of blue checks as form of authentication, the platform became flooded with accounts who could simply pay to have their replies prioritized by its algorithms—while simultaneously stripping a marker that was once used to prevent impersonation and fraud. Around the same time, Musk granted “amnesty” ([link removed]) to accounts that had been suspended for infractions like hate speech, targeted harassment, and calls to violence. Now, as the conflict between Hamas and Israel unfolds, these policies have enabled bad actors to impersonate journalists
([link removed]) and use X Premium accounts to spread misinformation ([link removed]) —which they may be incentivized to do through the platform’s revenue-sharing program. At the same time, layoffs to X’s trust and safety teams have left it with fewer staff to respond to these issues or test new features. For instance, a joint TTP and ADL review ([link removed]) found that X was placing advertisements in searches for well-known neo-Nazi groups, while platforms like Meta’s Facebook largely blocked the searches. Viewed as a whole, these cumulative
changes have reshaped the flow of information on X and tilted the scales to favor bad actors who would have struggled to gain a foothold on the old Twitter.
Lawmakers Turn up Heat on Crypto-Financed Terrorism
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported ([link removed]) that the Israeli government had tracked large cryptocurrency transactions to digital wallets associated with groups like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah – all of which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. Now, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are calling on ([link removed]) the Biden administration to crack down on terrorist financing enabled by cryptocurrency exchanges. Some companies with ties to international crime have already been shut down
([link removed]) , like the Hong Kong-registered Bitzlato, but others have endured; the Russia-based Garantex, for instance, simply moved its operations ([link removed]) to an undisclosed location and continued to facilitate transactions on behalf of terrorist organizations and cybercriminals. A day after the lawmakers sent their letter, the Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) signaled ([link removed]) that it would be narrowing restrictions on a practice known as Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing (CVC mixing), which allows illicit actors to obfuscate their cryptocurrency transactions. According to the notice of proposed rulemaking, FinCEN has identified
CVC mixing as a “primary money laundering concern,” meaning that additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements will be imposed on these transactions.
What We're Reading
FTC urged to investigate anonymous messaging app ([link removed])
Transparency legislation stalls in Michigan … again ([link removed])
Leonard Leo tied group registers to lobby ([link removed])
** Follow Our Work:
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We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.
Here is how you can stay involved and help us accomplish our mission:
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Be on the lookout for more updates about our work in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for signing up to be a part of CfA!
Sincerely,
Michelle Kuppersmith
Executive Director, Campaign for Accountability
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