A telecom company has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for its role in the deepfake robocall that impersonated President Joe Biden’s voice ahead of the New Hampshire Democratic primary, federal authorities plan to announce Wednesday.
Lingo Telecom, a voice service provider that distributed the artificial intelligence-generated robocalls through “spoofed” phone numbers, will pay the seven-figure penalty and agreed to stricter oversight protocols, in what federal authorities call a first-of-its-kind enforcement action against malicious deepfakes, or AI-driven impersonations of others.
“Every one of us deserves to know that the voice on the line is exactly who they claim to be,” Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “If AI is being used, that should be made clear to any consumer, citizen, and voter who encounters it.”
The robocall employed an AI-generated impersonation of Biden’s voice, which told New Hampshire voters not to vote in January’s Democratic primary.
As first uncovered by NBC News, the call was orchestrated by longtime political consultant Steve Kramer, who at the time was working for a rival campaign, though Kramer says he did it as a stunt to raise awareness about the danger of deepfakes. Kramer and his then-employer, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., insist no one on the campaign directed Kramer or was even aware of his actions.
Kramer is separately facing a $6 million fine from the FCC, as well as 26 criminal counts of voter intimidation and impersonating officials in New Hampshire. He is currently out on bail.
He is also facing a civil lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters. The U.S. Department of Justice threw its weight behind the suit last month.
“Voter intimidation, whether carried out in person or by way of deepfake robocalls, online disinformation campaigns, or other AI-fueled tactics, can stand as a real barrier for voters seeking to exercise their voice in our democracy,” said Kristen Clarke, the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement.
The Biden robocall was the first use of a deepfake in national American politics, so authorities said they moved quickly and aggressively to deter political deepfakes, which have grown rampant in some other countries.
“By holding Lingo Telecom accountable for its role in transmitting the spoofed robocalls carrying AI-generated messages, the FCC is sending a strong message that election interference and deceptive technology will not be tolerated,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in a statement.