MN-SEN: PAC ad attacking Flangan could be first test of law banning election 'deepfakes' [View all]

A political action committee (PAC) television ad airing in the Twin Cities is drawing complaints from the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan.

“Before running for Senate, Peggy Flanagan raised a staggering amount from corporate special interests,” the ad says, showing an apparently altered image of her putting her hand out for corporate donations.

A state law passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 bans “deepfake” ads in elections within 90 days of when early voting begins. The law prohibits altering any video, photo or audio “that is so realistic that a reasonable person would believe it depicts speech or conduct of an individual who did not in fact engage in such speech or conduct.”

“A deepfake is something that is so realistic that a reasonable person wouldn’t know that it wasn’t real,” says Sen. Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley), the Senate author of the law in 2023.



https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/pac-ad-attacking-flangan-could-be-first-test-of-law-banning-election-deepfakes/