Deepfake of Joe Biden - Canada Wouldn't be Caught Flat-Footed
New Hampshire is investigating reports that artificial intelligence was used to create robocalls aimed at discouraging Democrats from participating in the New Hampshire GOP primary on January 23. The calls featured a deepfake audio that mimicked the voice of Joe Biden.
In light of this, media and disinformation expert Joan Donovan suggests that the: "malicious use of technology to suppress voter turnout should be vigorously investigated by federal and state law enforcement authorities."
Here's it's important not to conflate the U.S. and Canada.
While the U.S. may not have the tools to sanction this kind of harm, Canada does. Under the Canada Elections Act, the use of deepfakes to discourage voter turnout could have been sanctioned under at least two provisions:
➡ §282.6 No person shall prevent or attempt to prevent an elector from voting at an election.
➡ §480.1 (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who, with intent to mislead, falsely represents themselves to be, or causes anyone to falsely represent themselves to be,[...] (e) a candidate or a person who is authorized to act on a candidate’s behalf.
And the consequences can be very real: Michael Sona, a campaign worker for the Conservative Party of Canada was sentenced to 9 months in jail for the 2011 robocalls scandal.