Wireless provider suffers $1 million FCC fines due to deceptive Biden robocalls
In a surprising turn of events, the telecom company that enabled deepfake robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden to swindle potential voters in New Hampshire during the state's Democratic primaries has faced the Music—er, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to be precise. Texas-based Lingo Telecom has agreed to pay a hefty civil penalty of $1 million as part of the settlement over this voter suppression scheme.
The fiasco kicked off when a political consultant named Steve Kramer, who worked for the presidential campaign of Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, hatched a plan to mislead voters using AI cloning technology. Kramer created robocalls that mimicked Biden's voice, including a script that hinted the President didn't want his supporters to vote for him in the New Hampshire primary this past January.
While Lingo Telecom didn't manufacture the deceptive calls, the FCC alleges that allowing these calls to transmit on its network was a breach of its rules, colloquially known as 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) and 'Know Your Upstream Provider' (KYUP) guidelines. The Phillips campaign claimed Kramer was acting independently and that they were clueless about the fake Biden calls. Kramer still faces a proposed $6 million fine from the FCC.
Interestingly, the fraudulent calls were both a high-stakes game and yielded minimal benefits for the candidate they intended to boost. Phillips managed to secure merely less than 20% of the vote in New Hampshire, despite his relentless campaigning. Biden garnered almost 64% of the vote, with Marianne Williamson securing just 4%. Nevertheless, the deception and the FCC's reprimand may discourage future mainstream political campaigns from resorting to similar tactics.
FCC chairman Jessica Rosenworcel stated, "Every one of us deserves to know that the voice on the other end is authentic. If AI is being used, this fact should be disclosed to any consumer, citizen, or voter that encounters it. The FCC will act wherever trust in our communications networks is at stake."
Aside from the financial fine, Lingo Telecom has agreed to three measures to guarantee its awareness of who's utilizing its wireless network:
- Applying an A-level attestation, the highest level of trust attributed to a phone number, only to calls where Lingo Telecom itself has provided the caller ID number to the party making the call.
- Ensuring the identity and line of business of each customer and upstream provider by obtaining independent corroborating records.
- Transmitting traffic solely from upstream providers that have robust robocall avoidance mechanisms in place and are responsive to traceback requests.
The FCC has framed the crackdown in terms of foreign adversaries attempting to manipulate American elections. However, it's essential to note that this was a domestic operation instigated by an American hoping to bolster Phillips.
Loyaan A. Egal, head of the FCC's enforcement bureau, expressed, "Whether initiated domestically to gain political advantage or instigated by foreign adversaries, the potential fusion of the misuse of generative AI voice-cloning technology and caller ID spoofing poses a marked threat to the U.S. communications network. This settlement displays a strong message that communications providers are the primary defense against such threats and will be held accountable to safeguard the American public."
- The artificial-intelligence cloning technology used in robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden during the New Hampshire primaries was employed by a political consultant named Steve Kramer.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) alleges that the tech company Lingo Telecom breached its rules, colloquially known as 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) and 'Know Your Upstream Provider' (KYUP) guidelines, by allowing these deceptive calls to transmit on its network.
- Lingo Telecom has agreed to take measures to guarantee its awareness of who's utilizing its wireless network, including applying an A-level attestation, ensuring the identity and line of business of each customer and upstream provider, and transmitting traffic solely from upstream providers with robust robocall avoidance mechanisms.
- FCC chairman Jessica Rosenworcel has stated that AI voice-cloning technology should disclose its use to any consumer, citizen, or voter, and emphasized the importance of safeguarding trust in America's communications networks.
