Attorney General Bonta Urges Top Social Media and AI Executives to Address Election Misinformation

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today sent a letter to executives at eight of the largest social media and artificial intelligence (AI) companies, reminding them that existing California laws prohibit certain types of voter intimidation, deception, and dissuasion, and that those laws may apply to content posted on social media platforms and content generated by AI. Addressed to Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., Microsoft, Inc., Open AI, Inc., Reddit Inc., TikTok Inc., X Corp., and YouTube, Inc., the letter expresses concern over the continuing spread of false and misleading information on social media platforms as well as users’ enhanced capabilities to create deceptive content due to improvements in generative AI. 

“The California Department of Justice is charged with protecting the rights of our residents. This is a responsibility I take seriously,” said Attorney General Bonta. “That is why I am urging social media and AI companies to understand existing California laws and address the deception that our voters are being exposed to when it comes to their constitutional right to vote. Those deceptive activities must be better identified and reported to law enforcement — I am fully committed to working with the companies to that end. We cannot allow bad actors, whether foreign or domestic, to continue to threaten the sanctity of our democracy.”

In the letter, Attorney General Bonta underscores that: 

• Millions of Californians rely on social media and AI services to obtain news and information about upcoming elections. The 2020 general election saw a dramatic increase in the distribution of misinformation about voting on social media platforms, which provide a ready means to disseminate such content to a large audience.  
• AI has already been used to attempt to deceive voters. For example, on January 21, 2024, thousands of registered voters in New Hampshire received an automated voice message impersonating the voice of President Biden, telling them that their vote in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary election that week would not “make a difference.”
• Troublingly, many social media platforms have eased or eliminated their internal content-moderation policies, or reduced the resources dedicated to implementing those policies. 
• The California Department of Justice welcomes the opportunity to work in partnership with the companies, using the tools at our disposal to detect, prevent, and report intentional interference with voting rights when users violate state laws through their activity on social media platforms and using AI.  

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting the right to vote. On July 26, 2024, he filed a lawsuit against Fresno County challenging its recently passed initiative, Measure A, which amended the county’s charter to move elections for district attorney and sheriff away from the presidential cycle to the gubernatorial cycle. On April 30, 2024, he joined a coalition of 14 attorneys general in an amicus brief in support of Delaware’s election officials, who were defending a challenge to Delaware’s early voting law in Albence v. Mennella. On April 15, 2024, he filed a lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach challenging its voter identification law, Measure A, which amended the city’s charter to purportedly allow the city to impose voter ID requirements at the polls for all municipal elections starting in 2026. On February 5, 2024, he joined a coalition of 51 bipartisan attorneys general in issuing a warning letter to a company that allegedly sent New Hampshire residents scam election robocalls during the New Hampshire primary election. On December 7, 2023, he joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs challenging Mississippi’s constitutional provisions that permanently disenfranchise persons convicted of certain felony offenses.

A copy of the letter can be found here.