Imagine scrolling through social media and seeing a video of an electoral official appearing to confess to a plan to rig an election. The video looks and sounds real, but it is entirely fabricated—a product of generative artificial intelligence. This scenario is no longer science fiction, nor is it a distant, theoretical risk. According to Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it is a clear and present danger to the credibility of elections. The Commission has raised fresh concern over the threat of generative AI, warning that its misuse for manipulated audio, video and targeted messaging has become cheaper and…

In March 2020, as the coronavirus swept across the globe, Puerto Rico’s governor declared a state of emergency. The island’s three million residents were told to stay home, nonessential businesses closed, and a nightly curfew took effect. In the chaos and fear of those early days, the government also reached for an unusual legal weapon: a statute that made it a crime to spread false information during an emergency. The law was meant to stop dangerous rumors from making things worse, but it cast a wide shadow. For three long years, as the emergency declaration was repeatedly extended, that law…