Last weekend, Donald Trump posted deepfakes online that appeared to show pop
music superstar Taylor Swift and her fans endorsing him for president.

What are “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.

To be clear, Taylor Swift has not endorsed Donald Trump.

And here’s what I told the national media:

“The deepfakes of Taylor Swift are yet another example of AI’s power to create
misinformation that deceives and defrauds voters. The potential harms to our
society that could result from such misinformation, including abuses of our
elections, are wide-reaching and immensely damaging.”

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 — we’re
hearing that the agency may reject our petition and shirk its duty to prevent
deepfakes from undermining the 2024 election.

We are running out of time to make our voices heard before the FEC makes a
potentially disastrous mistake. Take action right now, even if you’ve taken
action before on this critical issue.
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To the Federal Election Commission:
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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.
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Thanks for taking action.

For democracy,

- Lisa Gilbert, Co-President of Public Citizen


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