TRENTON, N.J. — They say a blind squirrel can eventually find a nut. Today seems to be that day.
Gov. Phil Murphy has conditionally vetoed a bipartisan bill aimed at criminalizing the creation and distribution of deceptive deepfake media, calling for revisions to strengthen its legal foundation and address potential First Amendment challenges.
The Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 3540 passed the state Senate unanimously, 37-0, with three abstentions. It proposed new criminal and civil penalties for individuals who produce or share deepfake content without clearly identifying it as manipulated. The bill also sought to hold media organizations accountable if they knowingly published deceptive deepfake material.
Murphy acknowledged the dangers of deepfake technology but expressed concerns about the bill’s wording and its ability to withstand constitutional scrutiny. “We must ensure the language of the bill is sufficiently precise to combat fraudulent, deceptive, or exploitative uses of deepfakes without running afoul of constitutional precept,” Murphy wrote in his veto message.
His proposed amendments include explicitly stating the bill’s intent, refining the legal definitions of deepfake-related offenses, and clarifying exemptions for satire, parody, journalism, and research.
He also recommended additional protections for victims and penalties for using deepfakes to commit crimes.
The bill now returns to the legislature for reconsideration, setting up a potential debate over free speech protections and the need for stricter regulations on AI-generated media.
