Mississippi AG warns U.S. Senate campaign over alleged deepfake ad depicting opponent

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch notified Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom and his campaign that an AI-generated ad appears to violate state law against the use of "deepfakes to influence elections." This notification followed a request from the Mississippi Republican Party for an investigation into the Colom ad, which had been posted to social media. The Republican Party alleged that the Colom campaign started running a 19-second deepfake, AI-generated video showing a woman resembling Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith looking frightened. Fitch's office has asked that the ads be removed, warning that an injunction may be filed. Attorney General Fitch also requested Scott Colom and his campaign to preserve all related records, citing potential criminal penalties for violations of the election integrity law.