A political consultant from Louisiana has been indicted by the feds for deploying deepfake recordings of President Joe Biden’s voice in robocalls aimed at dissuading New Hampshire voters from participating in the state’s Democratic primary. Steven Kramer, aged 54, now faces multiple charges including felony counts of voter suppression and misdemeanor impersonation of a candidate, with potential fines amounting to $6 million. The scheme involved blasting thousands of fake calls just days before the primary, prompting swift action from both the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
The FCC, in collaboration with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, announced the indictment, marking the first such case for the agency. Kramer’s deceptive robocall scheme, which utilized AI-generated recordings and caller ID spoofing, aimed to disrupt the primary process by urging residents to delay voting until the November election. Alongside Kramer’s charges, Lingo Telecom, the telecom company implicated in allowing the robocalls, could face a hefty fine of $2 million for its role in the transmission of the deceptive calls.
The telecom carrier allegedly failed to adhere to caller ID authentication rules, transmitting calls with inaccurate caller ID numbers and neglecting to verify the accuracy of the information. The FCC emphasized the importance of telecom carriers following “Know Your Customer” principles and implementing FCC-mandated STIR/SHAKEN standards to ensure proper caller ID information and prevent the spread of spam calls. With the 2024 presidential and congressional elections on the horizon, concerns about AI-generated content misleading voters have prompted calls for legislation and heightened vigilance to safeguard election integrity.
New Hampshire’s Attorney General John Formella underscored the state’s commitment to preserving election integrity, stating that ongoing investigations and actions taken against election interference aim to send a strong deterrent message to potential wrongdoers, whether through the use of artificial intelligence or other means.
