New York AG demands Big Tech step in to ‘protect’ voters from ‘misinformation’

New York’s Democratic Attorney General sent a letter to Big Tech companies demanding they step in and “protect” users of their respective websites from election “misinformation.”

“While misinformation has been a concern in past elections, with the rise of gen[erative] AI, barriers that prevent bad actors from creating deceptive or misleading content have weakened dramatically,” James wrote in a letter sent to 10 social media and AI companies, including Meta, Google and OpenAI.

The letter, sent this week and first obtained by ABC News, requested in-person meetings with the tech companies to walk James through the companies’ “meaningful steps to protect voters” to prevent election misinformation, the outlet reported. The letter did not address any penalties for not complying with James’ requests, but ABC noted, that “implicit in any request from the state attorney general is the possibility of an enforcement action.” 

Fox Digital reached out to James’ office regarding the letter, including what penalties the companies could face for not complying, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

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The prevalence of artificial intelligence apps and programs has led to an increase in deceptive and convincing videos to spread on social media in recent years, including ones targeting Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. James — who is a well-known critic of Trump’s and campaigned in 2018 on prosecuting him — said AI-created videos could cause confusion in the lead-up to election day. 

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Big Tech’s influence over elections, however, has become a lightning rod of criticism in recent years, most notably in 2020 when reports first surfaced of Hunter Biden’s now-notorious laptop. The New York Post broke the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop just days before the 2020 election in an article that detailed the first son’s overseas business communications. 

Twitter and Facebook moved to restrict the article from spreading on social media, however, deeming it misinformation as liberal media outlets and former intelligence officials slammed the laptop and report as “Russian disinformation.” 

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The laptop re-emerged earlier this summer when the first son faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he was reeling from a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally entered the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate. 

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The suppression of the story was seen as likely swaying the outcome of the 2020 election, when President Biden defeated Trump. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James exits the courtroom for a lunch recess during the former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on November 13, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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“Silicon Valley giants use powerful reactive and proactive methods of social manipulation to shift public opinion and influence election outcomes,” the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky and Daniel Cochrane wrote in a piece earlier this year. “Reactive methods usually involve censoring or deplatforming voices out of step with progressive values.”

“One of the most infamous examples is Facebook and Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election.” 

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Twitter has since been sold to tech billionaire Elon Musk, who renamed it X and now touts the service as a freewheeling platform for free speech.