The Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it would immediately clamp down on fraudulent automated voice calls featuring fake voices created by artificial intelligence, cracking down on so-called "deepfake" technology that experts say could undermine election security or exacerbate fraud.
The Federal Communications Commission's unanimous vote expands anti-spam calling rules to unsolicited artificial intelligence deepfake calls, which are considered "artificial" calls under federal law.
The FCC said the move gives state attorneys general more legal tools to pursue the use of artificial intelligence-generated sounds to fool Americans.
"Bad actors are using artificial intelligence-generated voices to extort vulnerable family members, impersonate celebrities and mislead voters in unsolicited robocalls," FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. "We need to put the fraudsters behind these robocalls to rest."
Weeks before a decision was made to more broadly interpret the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 to include artificial intelligence-generated voices, a fake robocall impersonating President Joe Biden targeted thousands of New Hampshire voters, urging them not to participate in the state's primary. Authorities said this week they had linked the fake calls to a Texas man and two companies, and the ongoing investigation could result in civil and criminal penalties.
Those wishing to send automated voice calls "must obtain the express prior consent of the called party before making a call with an artificial or prerecorded voice simulated or generated using artificial intelligence technology," the FCC said in Thursday's announcement.
Under Thursday's changes, scam calls using cloned voices will be subject to the same fines and consequences as illegal calls that don't use the technology. The Federal Communications Commission announced last week that it was considering the proposal.
Violations of the TCPA may result in severe civil penalties. In 2021, the Federal Communications Commission announced a proposed $5 million fine against right-wingers Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman for allegedly using illegal voice calls to prevent voting in the 2020 election.
According to estimates by YouMail, a company that blocks hijacked calls, the number of hijacked calls in the United States peaked in 2019 at about 58.5 billion. Last year, the number was nearly 55 billion.
As the Federal Communications Commission updates its interpretation of federal law, some U.S. lawmakers are proposing direct changes to the law to further curb illegal voice calls. House Democrats this year unveiled legislation that would double the maximum penalties in the TCPA for robocall violations involving the use of artificial intelligence.
Andrew Schwarzman, a lecturer at Georgetown University Law School and senior adviser to Benton, called the FCC's move an important step forward. "No one should think this will stop bad actors from doing bad things, but it gives the FCC the tools to act quickly to deter companies that facilitate these actions," he said.
As part of a broader crackdown on illegal voice calls by state and federal officials, the FCC ordered that phone providers that facilitate illegal voice calls can and have been forcibly disconnected from the U.S. phone network.