![]() ![]() The bill cleared a hurdle today by winning approval from a Senate committee. The American Civil Liberties Union of California, the California News Publishers Association and the California Broadcasters Association all oppose the bill on First Amendment grounds. Constitution guarantees the right to free speech-making it unclear whether a ban on convincing video forgeries would pass constitutional muster. “I don’t want to wake up after the 2020 election, like we did in 2016, and say, ‘dang, we should have done more,’” said Berman.īut there is at least one limit on what can be done. But as technological developments make it increasingly difficult to sort fake from real news, and to crack down on the dissemination of false information once it finds its way online, lawmakers like Berman are struggling to find some way to fight back. Libel and forgeries are hardly new phenomena in politics. It also makes an exception if the video or audio has a clear disclaimer that digital monkey business has been performed. The bill would apply to state-of-the-art deepfakes, as well as to lower tech fabrications. So Berman, chair of the Assembly’s election committee, has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to “knowingly or recklessly” share “deceptive audio or visual media” of a political candidate within 60 days of an election “with the intent to injure the candidate’s reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate.” “I immediately realized, ‘Wow, this is a technology that plays right into the hands of people who are trying to influence our elections like we saw in 2016,’” said Assemblyman Marc Berman, a Democrat whose district includes Silicon Valley. ![]() And the technology used to make it is only getting better. With the exception of some discoloration around the jaw and a not-entirely-convincing voice, it’s a solid forgery. It’s Peele who speaks through Obama’s digitally re-rendered mouth to illustrate the dangers of A.I.-constructed “deepfake” videos. The video was a fake, of course-a collaboration between the website Buzzfeed and filmmaker Jordan Peele. Set in what appears to be the Oval Office, the video also depicts the former president speaking fondly of the militant anti-colonial villain of the “Black Panther” comic franchise and claiming that Housing Secretary Ben Carson is brainwashed. Constitution let them?Ī California lawmaker says he knew something had to be done after watching a video of Barack Obama calling President Trump “a total and complete dipshit.” As technological developments make it increasingly difficult to sort fake videos from real news, California lawmakers are struggling to find some way to fight back. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |