Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed outrage after Elon Musk posted a video ad with manipulated speech against Vice President Kamala Harris. The video, which features scenes with Harris while a voice sounding like hers goes through derogatory talking points about her political past, has sparked significant controversy.
“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” said the video. “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire, I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist!”, told Huffpost.
Newsom reacted strongly, stating that ads with voice manipulation should be illegal.
“Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is,” he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Musk responded with mockery, using a popular insult.
“I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America,” Musk replied from his official X account.
The video garnered nearly 19 million views after being amplified by Musk and Newsom. The backlash didn’t stop there, as others criticized Musk for posting the video with manipulated audio, which appeared to contradict the platform’s terms of use.
“If @elonmusk and X let this go and don’t label it as altered AI content, they will not only be violating X’s own rules, they’ll be unleashing an entire election season of fake AI voice and image-altered content with no limits, regardless of party,” responded Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Musk has a history of clashing with California Democrats. Previously, he criticized them after they passed a law banning schools from informing parents about changes in their children’s gender and sexual orientation choices. Musk announced that he would be moving his companies, X and Starlink, out of California to Texas over the controversial law.
“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies,” Musk stated. “This is the final straw.”
The debate over the legality and ethics of manipulated media in political ads is likely to continue as technology advances and the 2024 election season heats up. As Newsom prepares to sign legislation addressing this issue, the conflict between political figures and tech moguls like Musk highlights the challenges of regulating digital content in the modern era.