The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has formally affirmed a $6 million financial penalty against a political consultant who reportedly used deepfake generative artificial intelligence (AI) to generate thousands of illegal robocalls to influence voters ahead of New Hampshire’s Presidential Primary in January 2024.
Under the terms of a Forfeiture Order issued by the FCC, Steve Kramer will be required to pay a $6 million fine by not later than the end of October or face further action by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in June, citing Kramer’s responsibility for generating thousands of illegal prerecorded voice robocalls using misleading and inaccurate caller ID information, in violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act. The caller identification transmitted with the calls actually belonged to the spouse of a prominent New Hampshire Democratic political operative who had no knowledge of the calls and had not consented to the caller ID use.
Further, Kramer’s illegal robocall campaign relied on so-called deepfake generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create voice messages that imitated the voice of President Joseph Biden. Contrary to the Democratic Party’s efforts to encourage voters to write in Biden’s name on the Primary Election ballot, the robocall message encouraged people not to vote in the Primary at all.
In addition to the FCC’s latest actions against Kramer, the New Hampshire Attorney General has indicted the political consultant on state felony charges of voter suppression and misdemeanor charges of impersonating a candidate. Further, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a statement in support of a lawsuit brought by private parties against Kramer for intimidation, threats, and other coercive behavior in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
The text of the FCC’s Forfeiture Order for Kramer’s election-related robocalls is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-104A1.pdf
