Political deepfakes: lawmakers fall behind as campaigns turn to legal action
As AI-generated political deepfakes spread, lawmakers are struggling to keep pace, with 31 states regulating election deepfakes ahead of the midterm elections. The Cooke campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rep. Van Orden over the deepfake videos.
Who is affected and how
- lawyer
- In election deepfake cases, counsel should build on state-law grounds and the bad-faith standard.
- compliance specialist
- Political campaigns' AI content and distribution controls must be managed under changing state rules.
- citizen
- Steps can be taken over fake videos on the basis of defamation.
Sources
- As AI political deepfakes go viral, lawmakers struggle to keep up – 2 states’ laws show limits of what they can dothe conversation · Sep 30, 2026
- Opinion: As AI political deepfake advertisements go viral, state lawmakers struggle to keep up • Kansas Reflectorkansasreflector.com · Oct 2, 2026
- How states’ laws are struggling to keep up with AI election deepfakesfastcompany.com · Oct 3, 2026
- Deepfake Laws by State (2026): Election, Scam and Likeness Rulesstartbusinessbystate.com · Sep 29, 2026
- Deepfake Laws by Country: The 2026 AI Likeness Trackerafterlife.ai · Oct 2, 2026
- Cooke campaign sends cease-and-desist to Congressman Van Orden over AI deepfakes - WPRwpr.org · Oct 1, 2026
- Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden hit with cease and desist letter from Democratic opponent Rebecca Cooke over AI deepfake adsthehill.com · Oct 1, 2026 · magyar
- MAGA Rep Gets Legal Threat For Lying Deepfake Ads - Joe.My.God.joemygod.com · Sep 30, 2026 · magyar
Machine-generated summary based on the titles and excerpts of the source articles. The source article is the authority for the facts. News monitoring, not legal advice.