California Gov. Newsom signs three bills curbing AI use in political campaigns

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed three bills into law designed to remove deceptive content from large online platforms, increase accountability of political campaigns and keep voters informed.

California’s new laws, which were effective immediately, follow similar legislation in dozens of other states regulating the use of AI-generated media in election campaigns and political ads — including Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin. The measures are often framed as a means to prevent the spread of disinformation ahead of the November presidential election.

“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation – especially in today’s fraught political climate,” Newsom said in a press release. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”

One of California’s new laws requires large online platforms to remove or label AI-generated content related to elections. It requires platforms to include a way for visitors to report suspicious content. It also authorizes candidates, elected officials, elections officials, the state attorney general and district or city attorneys to pursue legal action against platforms that violate the law.

“AI-generated deepfakes pose a clear and present risk to our elections and our democracy,” said Rep. Marc Berman, one of the bill’s authors, said in the release. “Advances in AI over the last few years make it easy to generate hyper-realistic yet completely fake election-related deepfakes, but AB 2655 will ensure that online platforms minimize their impact.”

Another law restricts political groups from distributing election materials using AI-generated content within 120 days of an election in California, and in certain cases up to 60 days after an election.

The third law requires political ads using AI-generated content to include disclosures or labels. It authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission — a non-partisan group tasked with enforcing the state’s Political Reform Act, which regulates campaign financing, conflicts of interest, lobbying, and governmental ethics — to file an injunction against violators.

According to the Voting Rights Lab, a group that analyzes election legislation, more than 100 bills in 40 states have been introduced to regulate AI’s potential to produce election disinformation.