Have you heard about “deepfakes”?

• Deepfakes are sounds, images, or videos generated using so-called “artificial intelligence” (AI).

• This is not science fiction or paranoia.

• Existing AI technology is powerful enough to make deepfakes that are essentially indistinguishable from the real thing.

• In fact, deepfakes are already being used — nefariously yet effectively — in real-world elections both here in America and elsewhere in the world.

In July of 2023, Public Citizen formally petitioned the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to require that political deepfakes be labeled as such.

Frankly, it’s the least that the government agency tasked with safeguarding the integrity of our elections should do.

But — over a year since we asked the FEC to take this obvious step — it looks like the agency may announce this Thursday that it is rejecting our petition and shirking its duty to prevent deepfakes from undermining the 2024 election.

This may well be our last chance to make our voices heard before the FEC makes a potentially disastrous mistake.

Please take action right now, even if you’ve taken action before on this critical issue.

To the Federal Election Commission:

The FEC’s core responsibility is to safeguard the integrity of our elections. And one of the most serious threats to our democracy is the emergence of political deepfakes. You can still get this right and require that political deepfakes be labeled as such. Democracy itself is hanging in the balance.

Click to add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

For democracy,

- Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 
Donate | Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe