A fake President Joe Biden robocall has resulted in a telecom company being fined $1 million. According to NBC, Lingo Telecom was fined for their part in creating a deep fake robocall of President Biden that advised New Hampshire voters not to vote in their January Democratic primary. This incident is re-ignited by NBC as the first-ever use of deep fakes during a national American election season.
According to a May 2024 FCC report, the primary orchestrator of the robocall was Steve Kramer, a political consultant. As for why he helped create the deep fake, according to NBC, Kramer said that he did so to “raise awareness about the danger of deep fakes.”
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella had this to say, “New Hampshire remains committed to ensuring that our elections remain free from unlawful interference and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing,” He continued by saying, “I hope that our respective enforcement actions send a strong deterrent signal to anyone who might consider interfering with elections, whether through the use of artificial intelligence or otherwise.”
For his part in creating the robocall, Kramer was charged with 26 counts by the New Hampshire Attorney General, with one-half of the counts being under voter suppression and the other half being misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate. Kramer was also given a $6 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission.
In addition to the fines, the company agreed to adopt stricter oversight protocols. The decision, according to federal authorities, is a first-of-its-kind action towards deep fake and or AI-generated impersonations.
“By holding Lingo Telecom accountable for its role in transmitting the spoofed robocalls carrying AI-generated messages, the FCC is sending a strong message that election interference and deceptive technology will not be tolerated,” said Formella.
While the 2024 electoral season was largely vacant of deep fake distractions, this incident proves the real danger deep fakes can hold. Now is the perfect time for those in power to implement the necessary rules and safeguards on this technology before it grows out of control.
