Two bills from CITED’s bill package pass the California Assembly & Senate; generative AI system used for child sexual abuse material taken down after CITED inquiry

SACRAMENTO – This week, legislation addressing the threat that AI-powered disinformation poses to our elections cleared the last 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 and Assembly floors and now head to Governor Newsom’s desk to be signed into law by the end of September.

“If these bills are signed by the Governor, California will have taken the most assertive steps in the U.S. to date to address the dangers that AI and disinformation pose to our elections,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein, California Common Cause’s Executive Director and CITED’s Co-Founder. “We can’t afford to wait for another election or legislative cycle to take action. CITED’s legislation can help lead the way for reforms in other states and nationally in Congress.”

The legislative package aims to help regulate the dangers of disinformation turbocharged by AI and social media without stifling innovation or freedom of speech. The two CITED bills that now sit on the Governor’s desk are:

• AB 2839, from Assemblymember Gail Pellerin. Keeps misleading deepfakes out of campaign ads and election communications close to Election Day, protecting candidates and election officials while respecting the First Amendment. This law would have addressed Elon Musk’s sharing of a misleading deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris, which was viewed 150 million times in one week on X. 
• AB 2655, from Assemblymember Marc Berman. Combats online disinformation in our elections by requiring social media platforms to label generative AI deepfakes that can deceive voters as digital or fake content, and by prohibiting the posting of the most pernicious of them close to Election Day. 

“At home and around the world, we’re already seeing how AI-powered disinformation can undermine the integrity of election processes and hurt voters,” said Drew Liebert, Director of CITED. “CITED’s bills represent some of the most nuanced, balanced, and forward-looking attempts in the United States seeking to protect our democracy from the growing digital threats. We hope the Governor will keep California as the nation’s democracy leader and make these bold measures models for the nation.”

Additionally, this week a popular AI deepfake tool used to generate child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate imagery (also known as child pornography and deepfake pornography) was recalled after inquiries from CITED’s Senior Policy Advisor, David Evan Harris. This sets a precedent that AI companies will likely see increased scrutiny should they continue releasing irresponsible and unethical products.

California Common Cause launched the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED) in November 2023 to help California lead the fight for solutions to the threats that disinformation, AI, deepfakes, and other emerging technologies pose to our democracy and elections. The public is hungry for those solutions. In November 2023 polling from Berkeley IGS, 84% of California voters said they are concerned about digital threats to elections and 73% said they believe state government has a “responsibility” to take action. That support runs across voters of all races, ages, genders, regions, and political parties.

CITED’s proposals have 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. 

In its first year, CITED has cemented itself as Sacramento’s go-to source of independent, unbiased policy expertise where technology issues impact democracy and voters. In addition to advising key decision-makers, and in the face of congressional inaction, CITED advanced its own legislative agenda.

California Common Cause and CITED thank Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, Assemblymember Marc Berman, and Senator Steve Padilla for their leadership and partnership in the 2024 legislative session.