Washington Reporter

Washington Reporter

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: FEC Chair on AI and the First Amendment
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Archive2

Scoop: FEC Chair on AI and the First Amendment

The Washington Reporter's avatar
The Washington Reporter
Sep 03, 2024

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: FEC Chair on AI and the First Amendment
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Washington Reporter

House Democrats are asking the federal government to crack down on memes generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Led by Rep. Shontel Brown (D., Ohio), a group of Democrats is requesting that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) “expeditiously consider” a proposal that would punish political campaigns or “their agents” if either use artificial intelligence to “fraudulently misrepresent other candidates or political parties.”

FEC chairman Sean Cooksey told the Washington Reporter such a request will be denied under his tenure. 

“Your First Amendment rights don’t disappear because you use an AI image generator to express yourself,” he said. “While the FEC will continue to enforce the campaign finance laws on the books, I oppose any effort to suppress political speech by regulating a technology that few agencies even understand. Our elections should be decided at the ballot box after a free exchange of arguments and ideas.”

AI policy-makers also criticized the Democrats’ request.

“This is the way Democrats roll in Washington: this letter to the FEC is actually [a warning to Cooksey] saying ‘do this or we’ll fire you. This is not a request. It’s a threat. It would be a shame if Kamala wins and fires you,’ is its implication” a senior House Republican staffer said, adding that the proposal is “an extension of [the Democrats’] war on Elon Musk. He took away their toy, so now they’re going to take away his technology.” 

In their letter to the FEC’s acting general counsel, Democrats targeted Elon Musk’s X. The platform, Democrats claimed, “introduced their [sic] AI image generator Grok-2 with few rules to combat its misuse. In fact, there are no policies that would allow the platform to restrict images of public figures that could be potentially misleading.” 

The letter comes as multiple Biden administration agencies have targeted various Musk-owned companies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has attempted to hinder Musk’s rocket launches. 


Subscribe to Washington Reporter

The intersection of policy and politics, with valuable insights straight from Hill staff and D.C. insiders.

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: FEC Chair on AI and the First Amendment
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Why the Biden Pill Penalty has been a disaster for Americans
A misguided policy enacted by former President Joe Biden has led to a 70 percent decline in investment in small-molecule drugs in the United States…
Mar 20 • 
The Washington Reporter
3

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Why the Biden Pill Penalty has been a disaster for Americans
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple career intelligence staff confirm Biden admin DNI Avril Haines used Signal "all the time and on her personal phone"
Biden administration Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines used Signal “all the time and on her personal phone,” according to multiple…
Apr 3 • 
Matthew Foldi
11

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple career intelligence staff confirm Biden admin DNI Avril Haines used Signal "all the time and on her personal phone"
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Haridopolos: Take Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit seriously
President Donald Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century in the Arctic, Rep. Mike Haridopolos explains. Here's why it's needed.
Jan 10 • 
The Washington Reporter
13

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Haridopolos: Take Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit seriously
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Ready for more?

© 2025 Washington Reporter
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.