Facebook banning ‘deepfakes’ ahead of 2020 election

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Facebook is targeting deceptively edited videos known as “deepfakes” ahead of the 2020 election.

Facebook Vice President of Global Policy Monika Bickert announced the new rules in a blog post on the social media company’s website on Monday. The updated rules target videos edited in such a way that the “average person” may be fooled into “thinking that a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say.”

“Manipulations can be made through simple technology like Photoshop or through sophisticated tools that use artificial intelligence or ‘deep learning’ techniques to create videos that distort reality — usually called ‘deepfakes,'” Bickert wrote. “While these videos are still rare on the internet, they present a significant challenge for our industry and society as their use increases.”

The new rules do not cover satire or real videos edited to omit or change the order of words said.

Any video marked false by one of Facebook’s fact-checkers will not be removed from the site. Rather, the clip’s reach will be severely limited, and a warning message will pop up for anyone who attempts to share the marked video.

Discussion on how to combat hoax deepfake videos have ramped up on Capitol Hill and inside tech companies as the 2020 election moves closer. Last year, a deepfake video of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that made the California Democrat appear drunk spotlighted the issue of how fake videos can spread quickly across the internet.

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