Honorable Kathy Hochul

Governor, New York State

Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Majority Leader, New York Senate

Honorable Carl Heas�e

Speaker, New York Assembly

March 28, 2024

Via Email

Re: Groups urge transparency for AI-generated and other poli�cal deepfakes in FY 2025
budget

Dear Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heas�e,

The undersigned organiza�ons urge you to include legisla�on requiring transparency for AI-
generated poli�cal deepfakes and other decep�ve synthe�c media targe�ng New York voters in
the FY 2025 budget. We are grateful for your steadfast leadership in figh�ng for free and fair
elec�ons in our state, including by introducing an execu�ve budget and one-house proposals
this year that promise needed resources for vo�ng reforms, public campaign financing, and
elec�on administra�on needs. Protec�ng New York elec�ons this year also requires that you
enact new safeguards to ensure that voters have the informa�on they need to recognize when
they are being targeted by inauthen�c poli�cal communica�ons, such as communica�ons used
for campaign purposes.

Disinforma�on using genera�ve AI technology has become a significant threat to our elec�ons.
Recent advances have made it easier to create and disseminate deepfake content that can easily
mislead voters with videos, audio clips, and images showing events or statements that did not
actually occur. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to dis�nguish this sort of decep�ve
content from depic�ons of real events.

The prolifera�on of this technology threatens to turbocharge the rapid spread of disinforma�on
in an already vola�le na�onal poli�cal environment, misleading voters and even suppressing
their votes. We are witnessing these dangers in real �me in the 2024 presiden�al elec�ons,
from depic�ons of candidates in scenarios that did not occur to an AI-generated robocall of
President Biden telling New Hampshire voters not to vote in the primary. New York is far from
immune, as we saw recently when AI-generated audio of a New York City poli�cal leader
disparaging a state assemblymember made headlines.

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We applaud Governor Hochul’s move to include legisla�on to counter these threats in her 30-
day amendments, 1 and the introduc�on of similar legisla�on in the Senate, which passed
through the Elec�ons Commitee earlier this month. We urge the Assembly to also priori�ze this
urgent issue by suppor�ng the inclusion of legisla�on in the final budget.

Time is of the essence. We recognize that it is not feasible to address every aspect of the
challenge posed by the latest advances in decep�ve AI technology in �me for the 2024 elec�on,
but that is no excuse for inac�on. The transparency measures proposed by Governor Hochul
and in the Senate bill represent a reasonable first step. We urge you not to prolong your
response by wai�ng to pass legisla�on during the regular session. Delivering legisla�on in the
budget will help ensure that New York gets out ahead of a significant emerging threat, while
providing a model for other states to follow.

Thank you for your aten�on to this urgent mater, and for your con�nued work to strengthen
New York’s democracy.

Respec�ully,

Brennan Center for Jus�ce at NYU School of Law

Brooklyn NAACP

Center for Law and Social Jus�ce at Medgar Evers College

Ci�zen Ac�on of New York

Common Cause New York

League of Women Voters of New York State

New York Immigra�on Coali�on

Public Ci�zen

Women Crea�ng Change

1
FY 2025 Executive Budget, Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation (TED)
Bill, New Part MM, Subpart C (2024).

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