The Federal Election Commission will not require political advertisers to disclose their use of artificial intelligence in broadcast television and radio ads this year, Republican chair Sean Cooksey told Axios.
The report comes two weeks after the FCC advanced a proposal addressing new rules for AI in political ads, which could add a layer of transparency in political campaigning that some tech watchdogs have called for to help inform voters about lifelike and misleading AI-generated media in ads.
"A rulemaking to limit or prohibit AI in campaign communications would not only overstep the commission's limited legal authority to regulate political advertisements, but it would also insert the agency — in the middle of an election — into a developing technology in which it has no expertise or experience," Cooksey told Axios.
"The better approach is for the FEC to wait for direction from Congress and to study how AI is actually used on the ground before considering any new rules ... and [the agency] will continue to enforce its existing regulations against fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority regardless of the medium."
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, told Axios a decision by the FEC to not regulate political deepfakes "would be a shameful abrogation of its responsibilities."
"Requiring that political deepfakes be labeled doesn't favor any political party or candidate. It simply protects voters from fraud and chaos," he added.
Democratic FEC commissioner Ellen Weintraub told Axios the FEC's authority in this area "is limited, but it's not nonexistent."
"I believe we can and should conduct a rulemaking in response to Public Citizen's important petition," she said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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