CITED’s sponsored bills clear the Senate Appropriations Committee and move to final step of the legislative process

SACRAMENTO – Today, legislation addressing the threat that AI-powered disinformation poses to our elections cleared a major hurdle in the California state legislature. The bills, sponsored by the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED), a project of California Common Cause, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and now head to the Senate floor.

“In this presidential election and in elections around the world, we’re seeing how AI-powered disinformation can undermine the integrity of election processes and negatively impact voters,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein, California Common Cause’s executive director and CITED’s co-founder. “AI and disinformation, if unaddressed, can be an existential threat to our democracy. We can’t afford to wait for another election or legislative cycle to take action. If Congress won’t act, California must do everything it can to implement meaningful regulation now.”

The legislative package aims to help regulate the dangers of disinformation turbocharged by AI and social media without stifling innovation or freedom of speech.

CITED’s legislative package includes:

• AB 2839, from Assemblymember Gail Pellerin. Keeps misleading deepfakes out of campaign ads and independent expenditures close to Election Day, protecting candidates and elections officials, while respecting the First Amendment.
• AB 2655, from Assemblymember Marc Berman. Combats online disinformation regarding elections by labeling generative AI deepfakes, and restricting the most pernicious and obvious of them close to Election Day. 
• AB 3211, from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. Requires generative AI companies to embed digital provenance data within the digital media they create, so we know which images, video, and audio were digitally created, when they were created, and who they were created by. 

“California is the home base for the world’s largest and most powerful social media platforms and AI companies,” said Drew Liebert, director of CITED. “We have benefited enormously from their contributions to the innovation economy, but now California has an ethical obligation to act in defense of our democracy.” 

CITED’s proposals comprise the most comprehensive and well-rounded legislation tackling the dangers of AI and disinformation currently moving through the legislature. Its work has been informed by research and thought leadership from titans in tech, law, public policy, civil rights, civic engagement, and academia, and influenced by successes and emerging ideas from the European Union, the White House, Congress, and states around the country. Independent of industry and with bipartisan leadership, CITED’s guidance is divorced from private agendas and partisanship. 

If turned to law, CITED’s legislation can help lead the way for reforms in other states, and nationally in Congress.