The telecom company that delivered robocalls mimicking President Joe Biden’s voice to New Hampshire voters two days before the state’s presidential primary is being ordered to pay $1 million to the Federal Communications Commission.
Under the terms of the settlement announced Wednesday, Texas-based Lingo Telecom will also revise its business practices. In January, the company delivered tens of thousands of robocalls to New Hampshire voters that included an artificially created voice that mimicked Biden. The message used the Biden catchphrase, “What a bunch of malarkey,” before encouraging recipients to skip the state primary and save their votes for November.
The calls were spoofed to appear as if they were coming from a prominent New Hampshire Democrat.
Steven Kramer, the political consultant accused of coordinating the calls, is facing multiple charges of voter suppression in New Hampshire, as well as potential civil fines from the FCC, for his role in the misinformation effort. Kramer allegedly hired a New Orleans-based magician to generate the calls while he was working for Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign.
“Every one of us deserves to know that the voice on the line is exactly who they claim to be,” FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a press release Wednesday. “If AI is being used, that should be made clear to any consumer, citizen, and voter who encounters it.”
The calls highlighted the risk to the public that emerging artificial intelligence poses, and helped prompt the FCC to propose new rules for how campaigns should disclose the use of AI in ads.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said the settlement sends “a strong message that election interference and deceptive technology will not be tolerated.”
Formella added that “this action is crucial in restoring trust and confidence in the electoral process” for New Hampshire voters.
