Judge blocks Montana's AI campaign-ad law — but only for one PAC
A federal judge ruled Montana's AI deepfake election law is likely unconstitutional, clearing one PAC to run undisclosed AI-altered ads while the law stays in force for everyone else.
What happened: U.S. District Judge Susan Watters blocked Montana from enforcing its AI deepfake election law against former state legislator Dan Bartel and the Accountability in State Government PAC. The law bars anyone from knowingly using AI to misrepresent a candidate in campaign ads close to an election, unless the ad discloses it was AI-altered. Watters found the statute is likely unconstitutional because it treats AI-altered content differently depending on whether it attacks or favors a candidate. Her order lets ASG PAC run AI-generated mailers against Democratic candidate Mary Ann Dunwell, including one depicting her as a cowboy-town pickpocket, without the required disclosure.
Why it matters: Montana's law was part of a wave of state rules passed as lawmakers worried AI could fool voters with fake images, audio or video of candidates. This ruling is among the first to test those laws against free-speech protections, and Watters concluded the real problem wasn't the AI use itself but that officials judged ads differently based on their message. If that reasoning survives appeal, it could undercut similar disclosure laws in other states. But a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting broad injunctions means this ruling only frees the two plaintiffs — the law remains fully enforceable against every other campaign in Montana.
How it works, plainly: Montana required a clear disclosure whenever a campaign ad used AI to alter what a candidate said or did within 60 days of voting. Watters zeroed in on how the state applied that rule: AI-generated mailers depicting Republican primary candidates with Pride flags were waved through by the political-practices commissioner as 'satire,' even though the law itself carves out no satire exemption. Bartel's lawyers argued that inconsistency proves the law isn't neutral about deception — it lets some AI content slide while threatening prosecution over other AI content based on whose message it helps, which courts treat as viewpoint discrimination.
The rollout: With the injunction in place, ASG PAC can distribute its AI-generated ads targeting Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell without a disclosure label this fall. Montana's attorney general and political-practices commissioner can still enforce the disclosure requirement against every other candidate, PAC and campaign in the state, so most races remain covered. What happens next — whether the state appeals, and whether challengers in other states borrow this argument — will decide if this stays a narrow, one-PAC carve-out or becomes a roadmap for unwinding AI election-disclosure laws elsewhere.