The FCC has proposed robocall fines against a caller and, for the very first time, against the carrier involved. First, the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture proposing a $6 million fine against political consultant Steve Kramer for perpetrating an illegal robocall campaign targeting potential voters two days before the New Hampshire’s 2024 Democratic Presidential Primary Election (Primary Election) in violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 and Section 64.1604 of the FCC rules. The illegal robocalls carried a deepfake generative artificial intelligence (AI) voice message that imitated President Biden’s voice and encouraged potential voters not to vote in the Primary Election. The FCC found that Kramer knowingly caused thousands of such illegal prerecorded voice robocalls to be transmitted using misleading and inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud and cause harm. Relatedly, the FCC issued a first-of-its-kind Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against a carrier, proposing a $2 million fine against Lingo Telecom for incorrectly labeling Kramer’s spoofed robocalls with the highest level of caller ID attestation set forth under the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework in violation of Section 64.6301(a) of the FCC rules.
