Meta requires political advertisers to mark when deepfakes used
Meta is requiring political advertisers to disclose when they have used artificial intelligence (AI) or digital manipulation in ads on Facebook and Instagram. This is a step further than the company's existing policies on using deepfakes in videos.
The new rules require adverts relating to politics, elections, or social issues to disclose any kind of digital alteration, whether done by a human or AI before the ad goes live on Facebook or Instagram. This includes changing what somebody has said in a video, altering images or footage of real events, and depicting real-looking people who do not exist.
Users will be notified when adverts have been marked as being digitally changed. Meta told the BBC that it would add this information to the ad but didn't go into detail on how it would be presented.
Advertisers do not have to declare when small changes have been made, such as cropping or colour correction, "unless such changes are consequential or material to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad".
Meta's new policy is similar to one that Google announced in September. TikTok does not allow any political advertising.
The article also discusses the growing concern about deepfakes in politics. In recent months, there have been several high-profile examples of deepfakes being used to spread misinformation about political candidates and elections.
Experts warn that deepfakes are a serious threat to democracy and that more needs to be done to regulate their use. They argue that a combination of federal regulation and voluntary policies by tech companies is needed to protect the public.
Shakir Bukhari
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I think it is good that Meta is taking steps to address the issue of deepfakes in political advertising. However, I am concerned that the new rules may not be enough to prevent the spread of deepfake misinformation.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the rules only apply to political ads. This means that deepfakes could still be used to spread misinformation about political candidates and elections in other types of content, such as news articles and social media posts.
Additionally, the rules only require advertisers to disclose when they have used AI or digital manipulation. This means that it will still be up to users to determine whether or not an ad is a deepfake.
I believe that more needs to be done to combat the spread of deepfakes, both in the context of political advertising and in general. I think that governments and tech companies need to work together to develop new regulations and technologies to address this threat.