Colorado law on disclosing AI-generated political ads raises free speech concern

By Joe Mueller| Kiowa Free Press

Weiser’s two-page public advisory refers to House Bill 24-1147, which took effect July 1. It created new regulations and penalties for using  artificial intelligence and deepfake-generated content in  communications about candidates for elected office. The law requires anyone using AI to create election communications featuring images, videos or audio of candidates to include a disclaimer explaining the content isn’t real.

Candidates who have their appearance, actions or speech depicted in a deepfake can pursue legal prohibition of the distribution, dissemination, publication, broadcast, transmission or other display of the communication. The bill provides for compensatory and punitive damages and the possibility of criminal charges.

“Much false speech is constitutionally protected,” David Greene, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in an interview. “I don’t read this law as creating a category of speech that’s unprotected. But it’s a content-based law and will have to pass strict scrutiny because it is a restriction on otherwise protected speech.”

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