Deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence are having their moment this year, at least when it comes to making it look or sound like celebrities have done something creepy. Tom Hanks presents a dental plan. Pope Francis wears a stylish puffer jacket. U.S. Senator Rand Paul sits on the steps of the Capitol in a red bathrobe.

But what happens next year, ahead of the US presidential elections?

Google was the first major tech company to say it would impose new labels on misleading AI-generated political ads that could spoof a candidate’s vote or actions. Now some US lawmakers are calling on social media platforms X, Facebook and Instagram to explain why they are not doing the same.

Two Democratic members of Congress sent a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Linda Yaccarino, expressing serious concerns about the rise of AI-generated political ads on their platforms and each asking for an explanation of the rules governing they devise to limit the damage. for free and fair elections.

They are two of the largest platforms and voters deserve to know what guardrails are being put in place, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in an interview with the Associated Press. We simply ask them: Can you do this? Why don’t you do this? It is clearly technologically possible.

‘Deep fake’ videos could rock an election, but Silicon Valley may have a way to combat them

The letter to executives from Klobuchar and Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York warns: With the 2024 election quickly approaching, a lack of transparency about this type of content in political ads could lead to a dangerous illusion of election-related disinformation and disinformation across the world. your platforms where voters often turn to learn about candidates and issues.”

X, formerly Twitter, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Clarke and Klobuchar asked executives to respond to their questions by October. 27.

The pressure on the social media companies comes as both lawmakers are helping lead a charge to regulate AI-generated political ads. A bill Clarke introduced earlier this year would amend a federal election law to require disclaimers when election ads contain AI-generated images or video.

That’s the bare minimum of what’s needed, said Klobuchar, who is sponsoring companion legislation in the Senate that she hopes will pass before the end of the year. In the meantime, the hope is that Big Tech platforms will do it themselves while we work on the standard, Klobuchar said.

Google has already said that starting in mid-November it will require a clear disclaimer for all AI-generated election ads that alter people or events on YouTube and other Google products. This policy applies in the US as well as in other countries where the company verifies election advertisements. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta does not have a specific rule for AI-generated political ads, but it does have a policy that restricts spoofed, manipulated or transformed audio and images used for misinformation.

Real-time deepfakes are a dangerous new threat. How to protect yourself

A more recent bipartisan Senate bill, co-sponsored by Klobuchar, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others, would

further Further

in prohibiting materially misleading deepfakes regarding federal candidates, with exceptions for parody and satire.

AI-generated ads are already part of the 2024 elections, including an ad aired in April by the Republican National Committee intended to show the future of the United States if the president

Joe

Biden is reelected. Fake but realistic photos were used showing boarded up storefronts and armored military patrols on the streets

,

and waves of immigrants causing panic.

Klobuchar said such an ad would likely be banned under the proposed rules. This would be a fake image

former President Donald

Trump hugs infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci who was featured in an attack ad from Trump’s main Republican Party opponent

And

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

As another example, Klobuchar cited a deepfake video from earlier this year showing Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren

of Massachusetts

in a TV interview that suggested there were restrictions on Republican voting.

That’s going to be so misleading when in a presidential race you either have the candidate you like or the candidate you don’t like saying things that aren’t true, Klobuchar said. How are you ever going to know the difference?

AI poses a political danger for 2024 and threatens to mislead voters

Klobuchar, chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, chaired a Sept. 27 hearing on AI and the future of elections. They were joined by witnesses, including the Minnesota secretary of state, a civil rights advocate and some skeptics. Republicans and some of the witnesses they have asked to testify have been wary of rules seen as infringing on free speech protections.

Ari Cohn, a lawyer at think tank TechFreedom, told senators that the deepfakes that have emerged so far ahead of the 2024 election have drawn enormous criticism, even ridicule, and have not played much of a role in misleading voters or influencing voters. of their behavior. He wondered if new rules were needed.

Even false speech is protected by the First Amendment, Cohn said. Determining truth and falsity in politics is actually the domain of the voters.

The Federal Election Commission in August took a procedural step toward potentially regulating AI-generated deepfakes in political ads, opening a petition for public comment asking it to develop rules on the misleading images, videos and audio clips .

The public comment period for the petition, filed by the advocacy group Public Citizen, ends Oct. 1. 16.

-Associated Press AP writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report.