Facebook bans 'deepfake' videos in run-up to US election

Facebook has announced a new policy banning AI-manipulated "deepfake" videos that are likely to mislead viewers into thinking someone "said words that they did not actually say," as the social network prepares for the 2020 US election. But the new policy explicitly covers only misinformation produced using AI, meaning that "shallow fakes" – videos made using conventional editing tools – though frequently just as misleading, are still allowed on the platform. The announcement made on Monday by Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of global policy management, sees the company removing misleading video from Facebook and Instagram if it meets two criteria: "It has been edited or synthesised … in ways that aren't apparent to an average person and would likely mislead someone into thinking that a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say." "It is the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic." To date, there have been no major examples of content that would break such rules.