Can You Sue the White House Over an AI Deepfake?

Last week, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong⁢ was arrested after participating in a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the pastor‍ had reportedly ⁤been working with ICE. ⁣The White House shared ‍an image of Levy⁢ Armstrong following the arrest that appeared⁤ to show her crying.But the image is fake, apparently altered ⁣with AI to make ‍her look like⁤ she was distressed or regretful. Wich raises an interesting new question: What can you do if the world’s most powerful government is arresting you on trumped-up⁤ charges and then sharing fake photos of you? Do you have any recourse‍ at all?

Nekima Levy Armstrong and‍ Chauntyll Allen, a St. Paul school board member, ⁣were arrested Jan. ⁤23 for violating the FACE Act, ‍which prohibits attempts to intimidate, threaten,‍ or interfere with services at places⁣ of worship. Video⁤ of the arrest captured by Levy Armstrong’s husband shows agents not just recording her but assuring her that the footage ⁣wouldn’t be used on social media.

“Why are you recording?” levy armstrong asked in the 7-minute video. “I would ask that you not record.”

“It’s not going to be ⁢on Twitter,” the unidentified agent told her. “It’s not going ⁢to be on anything like that.”

But it was posted to Twitter, now known as X. Homeland⁣ Security ⁢Secretary Kristi Noem posted an image ⁢showing Levy Armstrong with a ‍relatively neutral ⁤expression-confident ‍and stoic. But the X⁢ account for the White House posted something diffrent. That account showed Levy Armstrong crying, with tears rolling down her face. It was most likely created with AI.Her lawyer,⁤ Jordan Kushner, told ⁣the Associated Press that it was defamation.

“It is indeed just so outrageous that the White ⁤House would make up ⁤stories about ⁤someone to try and discredit them,” Kushner said. “She was‍ wholly calm and composed and rational.There was no one crying. So this is just ⁣outrageous defamation.”

Gizmodo spoke to‍ experts ‍to get a better sense of what Levy Armstrong could do after such an egregious move by the White House. And the consensus seems to⁣ be that any attempt to get justice will be complex.

Eric Goldman,a law professor at Santa Clara University School of ‍Law,pointed ⁢out that the government has been trying to crack down on malicious uses of⁤ AI to misrepresent people,yet the White House turns around and does just ⁢that,”role modeling the worst behavior that it’s trying to prevent its citizens from‍ engaging in.”

“It’s so shocking to see the government put out a deliberately false⁣ image without claiming that⁣ they were manipulating the image. This is what we call‍ government propaganda,” said Goldman.

Goldman says that there are several layers to a defamation claim that Levy ⁣Armstrong would need to establish to be⁣ successful.

“She’d have to show that there was a false statement of fact. And‍ normally we treat photos as conclusive statements of‍ fact, that they’re truthful for what they depicted, but it wouldn’t⁢ surprise me if⁤ the government argued that⁢ it ‍was ‍a parody or that it was so obviously false that everyone ⁤knew it was false and thus it was⁢ not a statement of fact,” said⁢ goldman.

“Now, that’s just sophistry, ⁤right? If defamation law means ‍anything, it would apply to⁣ a‍ fictionalized photo that is⁣ presented as truthful. Like, that’s what it’s su