Election Commission Takes Step Toward Campaign Deepfake Rules

The Federal Election Commission unanimously advanced a petition requesting it to regulate “deepfakes” in political campaign advertisements, for the first time soliciting public comment on the AI-generated hyper-realistic media.

The move opens the path for the agency that oversees federal elections to weigh in one of the most complex issues facing modern election administration. Researchers warn that deepfake media could be used to mislead voters. Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign released images of former President Donald Trump embracing his ex-chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci that, according to forensic experts, are almost certainly deepfakes.

The FEC’s vote follows a second petition from the nonprofit Public Citizen urging commissioners to consider regulations after a 3-3 deadlock seemingly doomed the effort in June. As the agency grapples with its jurisdiction to act under pre-AI campaign laws, a cohort of 50 Democratic members of Congress led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) have called on the agency to take action.

The FEC will accept public comment for a 60-day period beginning next week. When that concludes, commissioners will determine whether to take up a “final rule.”

Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, stressed the importance of even this procedural step.

“We’re now, for the first time, getting a federal government agency to solicit public comments on theissue itself,” he told Bloomberg Law, emphasizing that the process will raise public awareness.

Public Citizen’s petition asked the FEC to issue rules levying penalties on candidates who use AI-generated content to violate a statutory prohibition on “fraudulent misrepresentation” of other candidates or political parties. The regulations would apply only to federal candidates, not to outside groups such as super PACs.

Democratic commissioner Ellen Weintraub supported the petition, though she said during the meeting that the FEC can play only a limited role in combating misinformation.

“I don’t pretend that the FEC can solve all of the problems that people are concerned about in the field of AI, but it’s possible we can solve some of them,” she said.

Still, Republican commissioner Allen Dickerson, who has stressed FEC’s narrow jurisdiction under campaign finance laws, remained hesitant over whether statutory provisions prohibiting “fraudulent misrepresentation” give the commission authority to regulate deepfakes, even as he voted to move the petition further.

“Neither the petition nor our friends in Congress have pointed to any precedent for that argument, and respectfully I remain unconvinced,” Dickerson said in the meeting.

Holman said he hopes to bring together a “broad coalition” of civic groups and consultants to demonstrate bipartisan backing for deepfake rules.

“I’m expecting we’re going to get Republicans supporting a reasonable regulation addressing deepfakes, not artificial intelligence content altogether,” Holman said.