Regulators to tackle deepfakes with updated regulation

Significance

Deepfakes are hyper-realistic video, image and audio content that mimic real people, often portraying them as saying or doing things they never actually did. Apart from having gendered impacts through the dissemination of non-consensual sexually explicit material, deepfakes pose risks to democratic processes by enabling the spread of political disinformation.

Impacts

• Increased awareness of the illegality and dangers of creating harmful deepfakes will reduce the casual creation of this content.
• Motivated actors will use less-well-moderated AI tools, potentially from outside Western jurisdiction.
• Regulators will be forced to constantly update legislation as technologies develop and new types of threats or misuse emerge.