Gavin Newsom continued his feud with Elon Musk on Thursday, threatening to sue the Tesla CEO over his use of memes and deepfakes that he says “harm democracy.”
Musk accused Newsom of “making parody illegal” after the governor signed three bills to crack down on the use of AI to create fake images in videos and political ads.
Newsom denied he would stop parodies, but did attempt to expose the X CEO, whom he called a “conservative blogger.”
“I think Mr. Musk missed the point, parody is still alive and well in California, but deepfakes and election manipulation?” Newsom said. “That’s detrimental to democracy and the integrity of the system and trust and we believe in truth and trust and we believe this law is solid and will be upheld in court.”
When asked if he would take legal action against Musk or other conservatives, he appeared not to rule anything out.
Gavin Newsom continued his feud with Elon Musk on Thursday, threatening to sue the Tesla CEO over his use of memes and deepfakes that he claims “harm democracy”
‘The law states that many can apply for a cease and desist order. I just signed the law and I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. [any] a specific lawsuit involving a conservative blogger,” an apparent reference to Musk.
A video of Newsom announcing the possibility of legal action against Musk has reached the SpaceX boss, who responded on social media: “Awesome.”
Newsom on Tuesday signed America’s strongest law banning political “deepfakes,” following through on his July pledge to make digital manipulation of election content illegal.
This comes after Newsom publicly reprimanded X owner Elon Musk for sharing a post containing doctored images of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The new law, which takes effect immediately, makes it illegal to create and publish deepfakes related to elections within 120 days before Election Day and 60 days afterward.
It also gives courts the ability to stop the distribution of the material and impose civil penalties.
“Ensuring the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it is critical that we ensure that AI is not used to undermine public trust through disinformation, especially in today’s tense political climate,” Newsom said in a statement.
“These measures will help combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political advertising and other content. This is one of the areas where the state is proactively promoting transparent and trustworthy AI.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed the nation’s strongest law banning digitally altered political ‘deepfakes’
He went to X to share the update, fulfilling a promise he made in July
Elon Musk claimed Newsom made parody ‘illegal’ with his decision
On July 29, Newsom took to X, formerly Twitter, and vowed, “Fixing a vote in an ‘ad’ like this should be illegal. I’m going to sign a bill in a few weeks to make it illegal.”
Yesterday he shared the update: ‘I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
‘You may no longer knowingly distribute advertisements or other election communications that contain materially misleading content, including deepfakes.’
But Elon Musk responded fiercely to the governor, posting a message on the platform that read: “Believe it or not, @GavinNewsom just announced he signed a BILL making parody illegal, based on this video,” along with two laughing emojis.
The video in question was Kamala Harris’s modified campaign ad: a deepfake video in which Harris’ voice was manipulated.
Musk also shared a message saying, “They are REALLY trying to make posting memes illegal. Vote them out,” referring to Britain’s Labour Party and the US Democrats.
Major social media platforms must remove misleading material. The law is the first in the country and will come into effect next year.
Newsom also signed a bill requiring political campaigns to disclose whether they run ads with AI-customized material.
The governor signed the bills to loud applause during a conversation with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at an event hosted by the major software company during its annual conference in San Francisco.
The new laws confirm California’s leadership in AI regulation in the US, particularly in the fight against election deepfakes.
The state became the first in the US to ban manipulated videos and photos related to elections in 2019.
According to industry experts, the technology and AI measures proposed by California lawmakers have been used as a blueprint for lawmakers across the country.
As AI increases the threat of election disinformation worldwide, lawmakers across the country have rushed to address the problem, fearing that the manipulated materials could undermine the public’s trust in what they see and hear.
“With just 50 days left before the general election, there is an urgent need to protect against misleading, digitally altered content that could disrupt elections,” Gail Pellerin, a member of Congress and the author of the law banning deepfakes in elections, said in a statement.
‘California takes a stand against the manipulative use of deepfake technology to mislead voters.’
The new laws in California were passed on the same day that members of Congress introduced federal legislation aimed at stopping deepfakes in elections.
The bill would give the Federal Electoral Commission the power to regulate the use of AI in elections, in the same way it has regulated other forms of political deception for decades.
The FEC began considering such regulations after it introduced a ban in February on AI-generated robocalls aimed at discouraging voters.
Newsom has praised California as a pioneer in AI and as a regulator, saying the state could soon deploy generative AI tools to help manage highway congestion and provide tax advice, even as his administration weighs new rules to ban AI discrimination in hiring.
On Tuesday, he also signed two other bills to protect Hollywood performers from unauthorized use of AI without their consent.
After Musk publicly criticized Newsom’s decision, concerns have been raised about the impact he could have on the US elections.
Hours after an alleged attempt on Donald Trump last weekend, Musk posted a thinking emoji on his social media platform X and the comment that “no one is even trying to kill the Democratic President and Vice President.”
Donald Trump gave Musk a shoutout during an event on X Monday night, hailing the tech billionaire’s support and calling him his “friend.”
Amid anti-Muslim riots in the UK – sparked by a false rumour – Musk declared that “civil war is inevitable” in the country.
And when an anonymous X user distorted data to claim there was an increase in dubious voter registrations in three US states, Musk amplified the false post, calling it “extremely disturbing.”
All three reports sparked a storm of criticism from government officials, who called Musk’s words irresponsible and misleading.
His words have been viewed millions of times and shared thousands of times, illustrating the power of one of the world’s most influential people to spread fear, hate and disinformation during turbulent political times around the world.
That’s especially true because he owns the social platform formerly known as Twitter, giving Musk the authority to determine how that platform’s content reaches users.
Musk’s inaccurate messages to his 200 million followers and the lack of security on his site raise concerns about how he could manipulate public trust as Election Day in the US approaches.
He recently endorsed Trump’s presidential bid and has become more personally involved in politics, even agreeing to head a commission on government efficiency if Trump is re-elected.
Trump gave Musk a shout-out during an event at X on Monday night, expressing his support for the tech billionaire and calling him his “friend.”
At the very least, experts and election officials worry that Musk could incite people to question the legitimacy of the vote.
But they also worry that his words could spark threats and violence against election workers or candidates.
“X and Musk are dangerously and irresponsibly stoking the political fires at a critical time,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.
“It’s outrageous.”