Washington Secretary of State warns of deepfake threat to 2024 elections

OLYMPIA — Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs issued a stark warning Monday about the threat of election misinformation, particularly deepfakes and AI-generated content, as the state approaches its August 6 Primary and November 5 General Election.

Hobbs expressed concern over the potential flood of manipulated and false information on social media platforms, citing recent incidents involving high-profile figures. He pointed to a July 26 post on X, formerly Twitter, where platform owner Elon Musk shared a manipulated recording of presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

"If the owner of a social media platform themself is going to share misleading material, it signals to the rest of us that other materials allowed there may not be trustworthy," Hobbs said. He urged Washington's 4.8 million registered voters to rely on established news outlets and official government institutions for election information.

The Secretary of State joined counterparts from Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania in calling for X's AI search assistant, "Grok," to direct voters to CanIVote.org for accurate election information. This action followed an incident where Grok generated false information about ballot deadlines in multiple states after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the reelection campaign on July 21.

Hobbs highlighted recent legislation in Washington, Senate Bill 5152, which established the state's first limitations on deepfakes in political campaigning. The law requires disclosure of manipulated videos and allows candidates targeted by undisclosed deepfakes to sue for damages.

The Secretary of State cited several examples of deepfake incidents in other states, including a false video in Utah suggesting gubernatorial involvement in signature-gathering fraud and a deepfake robocall of President Biden discouraging New Hampshire voters from participating in a primary election.

To combat misinformation, Hobbs directed voters to the Office of the Secretary of State's elections website and county election offices for accurate information on registration, ballots, and important deadlines.

"The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, and we shouldn't allow anyone to interfere with it," Hobbs concluded, emphasizing the importance of vigilance against election misinformation in the digital age.