Common Cause Pennsylvania is supporting House Bill 811, legislation that will require disclosure for the use of political deepfakes in campaign advertisements. The bill would hold political candidates, campaigns, and PACs civilly liable for the use of a deepfake in an advertisement if that use is undisclosed and done without the consent of the depicted candidate.  

“Democracy depends on an informed citizenry, with a shared understanding of the facts. New technologies which allow candidates to be impersonated in a way that is indistinguishable from reality threaten to undermine that shared understanding,” said Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania Executive Director of Common Cause. “This bill will make it clear to Pennsylvanians what is real and what is an artificially generated deepfake, helping them get to the truth and hold their elected officials accountable. While we need more guardrails on this technology, this bill is an important first step to ensure that political actors are prevented from using this technology irresponsibly.”