The Pulse
California Extends Candidate Deepfake Ban Through 2031
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 686, extending California’s prohibition on materially deceptive audio or visual media targeting political candidates through January 1, 2031.
AI.info Team ·
California will keep its prohibition on certain deceptive political deepfakes in place through January 1, 2031, after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 686 on September 19, 2026.
AB 686 extends the sunset date for an existing prohibition on distributing materially deceptive audio or visual media with actual malice and with the intent to injure a candidate’s reputation or deceive a voter into voting for or against a candidate. The provision applies unless the media includes a disclosure stating that it has been manipulated.
The law is part of an election-protection package Newsom signed at the Democracy Center in Los Angeles. The governor’s office said the package creates new felony penalties for interfering with California ballots and election systems and is intended to protect the state’s elections from interference and political meddling.
“Donald Trump won’t stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November. California will stop him at every opportunity. We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling – the future of democracy is on the line. These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process.”
— Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
AB 686 Extends an Existing Restriction
The governor’s announcement describes AB 686 as extending the sunset date, from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2031, on the prohibition involving materially deceptive audio or visual media, commonly described as “deepfakes.” The covered material must be distributed with actual malice and with the intent to injure a candidate’s reputation or deceive a voter into supporting or opposing a candidate.
The bill does not appear in the announcement as a standalone measure. It was one of several election-related bills signed by Newsom on September 19. The package also included AB 502, which modifies provisions prohibiting the knowing distribution of campaign advertisements or other election communications containing materially deceptive content when malice is present, unless specified conditions are met.
Other measures in the package address ballots, vote-by-mail delivery, election records, voting technology and election cybersecurity. AB 282 makes it a felony to seize or assist in the seizure of ballots, election records or certified voting technology before election results are certified. SB 259 creates criminal penalties for interfering with the delivery or return of a vote-by-mail ballot.
AB 1130 allows administrative, civil or criminal penalties against a person paid by a campaign committee to post online political content supporting or opposing a candidate or measure if the required paid-content disclaimer is omitted. AB 1664 requires certain local agencies, political subdivisions and elections officials to notify the Secretary of State and the Attorney General about warrants, subpoenas or active law-enforcement investigations involving election records or certified voting technology.
Part of a Broader Election Package
AB 2281 requires the Secretary of State to assess whether additional state resources are needed to replace election cybersecurity resources previously provided by the federal government. The package also includes measures concerning voter suppression, language access, polling-place activity, election-material preservation and voting by mail.
The governor’s office listed AB 2655, signed in 2024, as an earlier California law requiring large online platforms to remove or label deceptive and digitally altered or created content related to elections during specified periods. That law also provides mechanisms for candidates, elected officials, elections officials and state prosecutors to seek court orders against covered platforms that do not comply.
With Newsom’s signature, the candidate-media restriction covered by AB 686 is scheduled to remain in effect until January 1, 2031.