Mississippi AG tells Colom to pull fake AI video of Hyde-Smith

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch told Scott Colom's Senate campaign on Oct. 23, 2026 to remove a fake, AI-generated video of his opponent, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, saying the posts appear to violate the state's election-deepfake law.

The video is fabricated. The 19-second clip, which the campaign posted to Facebook and Instagram on Oct. 11, depicts a figure resembling Hyde-Smith fleeing from reporters and dodging questions about health care and her "pick another protein" interview moment, according to the Clarion Ledger. Neither the clip nor its captions disclosed that it was made with artificial intelligence; both captions read "Based on a true story."

In a statement that day, Fitch wrote that the posts "appear to violate State law against the use of 'deepfakes' to influence elections." She asked the campaign to take the videos down from social media "or else the office may file an injunction," and told it to preserve all records related to the matter "so as not to obstruct justice" because a violation can carry criminal penalties.

Fitch's statement is not a determination that a violation occurred. It is unclear whether her office will pursue the matter now that the video is down.

The warning rests on Mississippi Code § 97-13-47, passed in 2024 and effective July 1 of that year. The law makes it a crime to knowingly disseminate a "digitization," which it defines to include images or audio created with software, machine learning, artificial intelligence or other computer-generated means, within 90 days of an election, without the consent of the person depicted, and with the intent to injure the candidate, influence the results of an election or deter any person from voting.

Penalties depend on intent. Most convictions carry up to a year in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. If the intent was to incite or cause violence, cause bodily harm or deter any person from voting, or if the person was convicted under the section within the past five years, the maximum rises to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Two parts of the statute matter here. Content that "constitutes satire or parody" is exempt, and neither term is defined in the law. A "clear and prominent" disclaimer shown throughout the video, stating that the depicted person did not engage in the conduct shown, is a defense to prosecution. The Clarion Ledger notes that whether the Colom video is satire or parody is a subjective call.

The complaint came from Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst, who wrote to Fitch's office on Oct. 22 that he suspected Colom, a district attorney, broke the 2024 law. "Mississippi law is clear. You cannot manufacture a fake video of your opponent and pass it off to voters as real in the final weeks of an election," Hurst wrote in a news release. He argued the caption was itself part of the deception.

Colom said he would delete the post "in the spirit of being good stewards" of his campaign donors' money and would not "waste those hard-earned dollars on costly litigation," according to the Clarion Ledger and The Dispatch. He maintained the video was parody. His campaign manager, Gerard Henderson, called the complaint a political stunt and an act of desperation and pointed to questions about Hyde-Smith's campaign funds, the Clarion Ledger reported on Oct. 22. Nathan Calvert, a spokesperson for Hyde-Smith's campaign, told The Dispatch the campaign would not comment because "this is entirely a MSGOP issue."

WLBT reported that Fitch asked for removal by 3 p.m. Friday; WLOX reported a 4 p.m. deadline. By Friday afternoon the video was gone from the campaign's Facebook page, according to WLBT, WLOX and The Dispatch.

The First Amendment question is unresolved. Brian Downing, an associate professor of law at Ole Miss, told The Dispatch that the campaign's weak points are the lack of a clear AI disclosure and whether the clip reads as parody to a reasonable viewer. He said Colom could challenge whether the state law violates the First Amendment, especially because Hyde-Smith is a public figure, and noted that some states, including California, have struck down similar laws.

For creators, the case is a reminder that AI-generated political video carries legal risk in the 90 days before an election, and that the statute itself treats a clear disclaimer as a defense. The undefined parody exemption leaves the outcome of any challenge uncertain.

The next step is unclear: Fitch has not said whether she will pursue the case now that the video is down, and Mississippi voters go to the polls on Nov. 3, 2026.