Settlement includes “historic” compliance plan, FCC says
The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has come to a settlement with Lingo Telecom, the voice service provider that transmitted political robocalls to New Hampshire voters that included “deepfake”, artificial intelligence-generated audio that impersonated President Joe Biden and urged residents not to vote in the presidential primary.
“The calls were directed by a political consultant named Steve Kramer in an attempt to interfere in the 2024 New Hampshire primary election,” the FCC said in a release. Kramer admitted to NBC News that he was behind the deepfake robocalls, claiming that he had commissioned them in order to prompt stricter regulations. The deepfake robocalls went to potential New Hampshire voters two days before the primary election.
The FCC said that for its part, Lingo Telecom will pay a $1 million fine and agreed to a “historic” compliance plan that the agency said is the first of its kind, including strict adherence to the STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework and “requirements that the company more thoroughly verify the accuracy of the information provided by its customers and upstream providers.”
The FCC has said in previous public statements that Lingo not only transmitted the calls, it labeled the deepfake robocalls—which also illegally spoofed the phone number of a different political consultant—with “the highest level of caller ID attestation, making it less likely that other providers could detect the calls as potentially spoofed.”
“Every one of us deserves to know that the voice on the line is exactly who they claim to be,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. “If AI is being used, that should be made clear to any consumer, citizen, and voter who encounters it. The FCC will act when trust in our communications networks is on the line.”
The FCC has also pursued Kramer directly, levying a proposed $6 million fine against him related to the robocall campaign. In addition to the FCC enforcement action, he has since been charged with 26 criminal counts by New Hampshire’s attorney general.
“Whether at the hands of domestic operatives seeking political advantage or sophisticated foreign adversaries conducting malign influence or election interference activities, the potential combination of the misuse of generative AI voice-cloning technology and caller ID spoofing over the U.S. communications network presents a significant threat,” said Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal. “This settlement sends a strong message that communications service providers are the first line of defense against these threats and will be held accountable to ensure they do their part to protect the American public.”
Since the New Hampshire incident, as well as more widespread incidents in which generative AI is used to deceive or impersonate people’s voices, the FCC has proposed new rules on AI-generated robocalls as well as on the labeling of AI-generated content in political radio and television advertising.
