Deepfakes, Real Consequences: Crafting Legislation to Combat Threats Posed by Deepfakes

Given the rapid development of deepfake technology, there is a growing consensus that its potential to cause deleterious consequences justifies some form of regulation. Proposed regulations are diverse and target myriad harms associated with deepfakes. Rather than surveying the field, this Note explores solutions to a particular set of concerns—those related to national security and election integrity. These interests deal less with personal injury and more with threats to our social order, where a bad actor could use deepfakes to exploit social divisions, undermine democratic discourse, and erode trust in governmental institutions. The resulting tangible harms could have widereaching effects on election integrity, military operations, and intelligencegathering missions, among other things. This Note details harms related to election interference and national security, explores existing and proposed legislation aimed at regulating deepfakes, and examines the legal and constitutional constraints on any such legislation. Finally, this Note distills and assesses key facets of existing proposals and attempts to craft an effective legislative solution that accommodates, anticipates, and mitigates such harms without chilling expression or technological progress.