Google Mandates AI Disclosure for Political Ads

What's the story?

• Starting in November, Google will mandate political ads to "prominently disclose" if they include artificial intelligence-generated images and audio.
• Ahead of the 2024 election, this policy update will require campaign-related ads to clearly disclose "synthetic content" that falsely depicts people or events. Suggested labels include "this image does not depict real events" or "this video content was synthetically generated."
• Google is the first Big Tech company to implement an AI disclosure rule for political advertisements. In comparison, Facebook does not mandate the disclosure of AI-generated content but does prohibit the use of deepfakes.

Google, misinformation, and disinformation 

• Google's existing ad policies prohibit the manipulation of digital media to deceive or mislead the public about political, social, or public matters. Google requires political ads to reveal who paid for them, and Google's Ads Transparency Library makes public all the ads run by a specific company.
• Google also bans content that could interfere with or erode trust in the election process.

Concerns regarding AI in political campaigns

• Experts worry that AI-generated videos and images will pose a significant threat to the democratic process, in particular, during the 2024 elections.
• In April 2023, the Republican National Committee released a 30-second advertisement that solely included AI-generated imagery. The ad portrayed a negative depiction of the U.S. if President Biden was to be reelected, which included images of China invading Taiwan, migrants trying to cross the U.S. border, and soldiers in a deserted San Francisco.
• In May 2023, the campaign of Republican candidate Ron DeSantis released videos created with AI that falsely showed fighter jets flying over DeSantis and former President Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci.

What else is being done?

• Google's policy change comes as Congress works on legislation to regulate AI.
• In August, the Federal Election Commission voted to gather public comment on whether to update its misinformation policy to set rules on the use of AI in political ads. 
• In May 2023, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) introduced the REAL Political Advertisements Act to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. This bill calls for "clear and conspicuous disclosures" in campaign ads that use artificial intelligence to generate images or videos. 

Do you worry about the impact of AI in the 2024 election campaigns?

-Laura Woods

(Photo credit: Unsplash)