Newsom attacks memes and deepfakes in politics - Really?

Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a set of laws aimed at combating the use of deepfake technology in political contexts, marking the most aggressive measures yet in the U.S. to curb AI-generated disinformation. The new law specifically targets digitally altered videos, audio, and images used to deceive voters, requiring large social media platforms to remove or label such content if it is related to elections. It also allows politicians and other public officials to seek legal action against platforms that fail to comply.

This move comes in response to rising concerns about AI's potential to disrupt elections and manipulate public opinion through hyper-realistic deepfakes. One of the new laws bans the creation and distribution of deceptive deepfakes for 120 days leading up to an election, while another mandates that political ads using  ...