Littleton lawmaker is among those at the New Hampshire statehouse leading the fight against disinformation and election disruption

As the state and federal primary and general elections near, a Littleton lawmaker is among those at the New Hampshire statehouse leading the fight against disinformation and election disruption made through artificial intelligence. State Rep. Linda Massimilla, D-Littleton, is the sponsor of House Bill 1500, which seeks to prohibit the unlawful distribution of misleading synthetic media and election-related media. If made law, that bill and others would require that all digital election fakery, from AI-generated imagery, audio from voice-cloning software and “deep fakes,” be labeled as such. The intent is to have a law in place before the elections, said Massimilla. The bills were filed late last year, not long before a robocall mimicking the voice of Pres. Joe Biden went out to Granite State residents to falsely tell them that voting in the Jan. 23 primary would prevent them from voting in the November election.