Rep. Mike Lawler and Rep. Josh Gottheimer urge agencies to police AI election misinformation, sparking First Amendment‑c

Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York and Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey sent a bipartisan letter to the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Election Commission. The letter asks the agencies to coordinate monitoring of artificial‑intelligence tools that could spread election‑related misinformation, arguing that AI poses new threats to election integrity.

First‑Amendment advocacy groups responded that the proposal constitutes a "frightening attack on the First Amendment," warning that even misleading or false speech is constitutionally protected. Critics argue that granting the government authority to define and police misinformation could lead to censorship and partisan bias, echoing concerns raised over previous government involvement in online content moderation during the 2020 election cycle.