CDT Submits Testimony on Connecticut Bill Creating Criminal Penalties for Election Deepfakes
Today, CDT submitted testimony to the Connecticut Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections, urging modifications to H.B.6846 to protect users’ free expression rights. H.B.6846 would create misdemeanor and felony criminal penalties for any speaker that knowingly distributes certain unlabeled AI-generated images within 90 days of an general or primary election with the intent of influencing the results of an election (or injuring a candidate) – that would effectively encompass most political speech near the time of an election by even ordinary users. The bill would not exempt satire, parody, or other positive AI use cases. CDT’s testimony recognizes that the emergence of widely accessible generative AI has raised concerns that misuses of this technology may exacerbate existing election cybersecurity and information integrity challenges. However, attempts to address those concerns should account for users’ constitutional rights. The testimony urges modifications to protect users’ rights to actively participate in the democratic process and use technology to advocate for the candidates and causes of their choosing, honoring the fact that speech concerning public matters occupies the “highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.”
Read the full testimony.
