Texas telecom company fined $1 million for deepfake Biden calls discouraging New Hampshire voters

A Texas-based telecommunications company is being ordered to pay a $1 million penalty following robocalls that used an AI-generated recording of President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage people from voting in the New Hampshire primary election, violating state election laws, according to a news release from the Federal Communications Commission.

The calls, transmitted by Lingo Telecom, were directed by political consultant Steve Kramer in an attempt to interfere with the primary election, the release says.

The civil settlement comes after Walter Monk, of Arlington, and Texas-based Life Corp were served with a “cease and desist” order issued in February by New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella. They were identified as the source of the deepfake calls, according to the FCC.

Lingo Telecom, identified as the “voice provider,” stopped providing services to Life Corp when it learned of the investigations being conducted by the New Hampshire Department of Justice, the FCC said in a February news release.

The robocalls were issued two days before the Jan. 23 primary, spoofing caller IDs to make it appear that they were coming from a former Democratic committee chair, according to the FCC.

In the calls, registered Democratic voters were told, “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday,” the February news release said.

In addition to the civil penalty, Lingo Telecom is ordered to implement a “historic compliance plan,” requiring adherence to the FCC’s caller ID authentication rules. The company is also to abide by “Know Your Customer” and “Know Your Upstream Provider” principles, allowing phone carriers to monitor call traffic and ensure authentication, the release states.

“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 the release. “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.”

In May, the FCC issued a separate enforcement action against Kramer, fining him $6 million for the deepfake robocalls.

He was indicted on 26 state charges, 13 counts of voter suppression and 13 counts of impersonation of a candidate, Formella announced May 23.

The veteran consultant had a six-figure contract with the campaign of Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., according to a report by NBC. Phillips dropped out of the presidential race after the New Hampshire primary, NBC reported.

“Voter intimidation ... can stand as a real barrier for voters seeking to exercise their voice in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “Every voter has the fundamental right to cast their ballot free from unlawful intimidation, coercion and disinformation schemes.”

“This settlement is a major victory for the integrity of elections, especially for New Hampshire and its voters who were targeted. By holding Lingo Telecom accountable for its role in transmitting the spoofed robocalls carrying AI-generated messages, the FCC is sending a strong message that election interference and deceptive technology will not be tolerated,” Formella said.

The settlement is the latest in the FCC’s series of actions taken to protect consumers from AI-generated scams that mislead and misinform the public, the release says.

_____