Texas GOP May Outlaw “Deep Fake” Political Flyers

The Texas Tribune reports:

A recent “deepfaked” ad targeting House Speaker Dade Phelan [photo] could inspire further legislation to crack down on doctored imagery in political ads. That mailer, paid for by the Jeff Yass-bankrolled Club for Growth Action PAC, depicted Phelan in an intimate hug with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, apparently a remake of Pelosi hugging new House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

The flip side of the mailer falsely depicted Phelan at a lectern speaking at a Texas House Democratic Caucus conference. At the House Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence hearing, attorney Andrew Cates suggested the committee should recommend an update to Senate Bill 751 from 2019, which created a Class A misdemeanor offense for distributing a “deep fake video” created with the intent to deceive voters.

Read the full article. In this case, deep fake is just photoshop. Of note, Jeff Yass is the billionaire megadonor who convinced Trump to oppose banning TikTok. Yass owns a $15 billion stake in the platform.

False ad depicting Dade Phelan with Nancy Pelosi could inspire new anti-deepfake legislation https://t.co/adOKGsAD6R

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) April 30, 2024

Important Voter Alert! The David Covey Campaign has reached a new low. Just today, the Covey propaganda machine sent a mailer (you probably received it) with two Deep Fake photographs, including one with Nancy Pelosi.

The Covey campaign has lied with its words, it has lied… pic.twitter.com/vWynNVVTsP

— Dade Phelan (@DadePhelan) April 27, 2024