Janice R. Andrews
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Lingo Telecom $1 million for sending fake calls with an AI voice that sounded like Vice President Joe Biden. This is a big step forward before the 2024 election. People who got these calls in January were told not to vote in the New Hampshire Primary. The FCC’s compliance move shows how worried people are becoming about how AI could be used to change public opinion and the integrity of elections.
The company that sent these deepfake calls, Lingo Telecom, has decided to pay the fine and put in place a compliance plan to stop future violations. The head of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, Loyaan A. Egal, stressed how dangerous it is when generative AI voice-cloning technology is combined with caller ID fraud, which can be used to trick people in the United States. Egal told us, “This settlement sends a strong message that communications service providers are the first line of defense against these threats and will be held accountable.”
The FCC is also going after Steven Kramer, the political adviser who is said to have set up the calls, for a $6 million fine. Kramer is accused of breaking the Truth in Caller ID Act by using a fake phone number for a local politician to make the fake calls seem more real. The FCC is still looking into the case against Kramer, which shows how serious they are about stopping election-related fake news.
