How one company was affected by numerous calls from the president.
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. authorities have charged a political consultant for distributing fake recordings of President Joe Biden's voice to thousands of New Hampshire voters. Now, the telecommunications company that allowed these calls to occur is facing a $2 million fine for failing to prevent them.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported that 54-year-old consultant Stephen Kramer organized a fraudulent scheme of robocalls using AI. The recording called on New Hampshire residents to abstain from voting until the November election, in an apparent attempt to disrupt the primary election process. Kramer faces a $6 million fine for using deepfakes with Biden's voice and forging the caller ID.
This is the first case of its kind for the FCC, where Kramer, who sent out thousands of fake calls 2 days before the election, was charged with 13 criminal counts of voter suppression and forgery of the candidate's identity.
In addition, the telecommunications company Lingo Telecom, which allowed the calls to be made, may face a fine of $2 million for its role in transmitting the calls. It turned out that the inaccurate and misleading calls also used the caller ID number of a local political figure who was unaware of what was going on, which is a violation of the caller ID authentication rules set by the FCC.
According to the FCC, Lingo Telecom did not follow the principles of "Know Your Customer" (KYC), which makes it illegal to transfer calls without verifying the caller ID. The telecommunications company is also accused of not doing enough to verify the accuracy of the information, which should include using the STIR/SHAKEN standards set by the FCC.
The STIR/SHAKEN tool serves as a digital identifier that allows you to track suspicious calls, which not only supports reliability for consumers, but also allows other phone carriers to block spam calls.
The FCC warned that AI is likely to play a significant role in the upcoming 2024 elections, increasing the importance of ensuring election integrity and transparency. Concerns that AI-generated content could mislead voters have prompted some senators in Washington to push for legislative measures to combat threats ahead of the November election, including requiring radio and television to disclose the presence of AI-generated content in ads.
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. authorities have charged a political consultant for distributing fake recordings of President Joe Biden's voice to thousands of New Hampshire voters. Now, the telecommunications company that allowed these calls to occur is facing a $2 million fine for failing to prevent them.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported that 54-year-old consultant Stephen Kramer organized a fraudulent scheme of robocalls using AI. The recording called on New Hampshire residents to abstain from voting until the November election, in an apparent attempt to disrupt the primary election process. Kramer faces a $6 million fine for using deepfakes with Biden's voice and forging the caller ID.
This is the first case of its kind for the FCC, where Kramer, who sent out thousands of fake calls 2 days before the election, was charged with 13 criminal counts of voter suppression and forgery of the candidate's identity.
In addition, the telecommunications company Lingo Telecom, which allowed the calls to be made, may face a fine of $2 million for its role in transmitting the calls. It turned out that the inaccurate and misleading calls also used the caller ID number of a local political figure who was unaware of what was going on, which is a violation of the caller ID authentication rules set by the FCC.
According to the FCC, Lingo Telecom did not follow the principles of "Know Your Customer" (KYC), which makes it illegal to transfer calls without verifying the caller ID. The telecommunications company is also accused of not doing enough to verify the accuracy of the information, which should include using the STIR/SHAKEN standards set by the FCC.
The STIR/SHAKEN tool serves as a digital identifier that allows you to track suspicious calls, which not only supports reliability for consumers, but also allows other phone carriers to block spam calls.
The FCC warned that AI is likely to play a significant role in the upcoming 2024 elections, increasing the importance of ensuring election integrity and transparency. Concerns that AI-generated content could mislead voters have prompted some senators in Washington to push for legislative measures to combat threats ahead of the November election, including requiring radio and television to disclose the presence of AI-generated content in ads.
