China moves to regulate deepfake technology

New rules went into effect in China on Tuesday to regulate the use of deepfakes, increasingly realistic digital video manipulations that have stoked fears of misinformation globally.

Deepfake technology allows users to replace one person’s face with another’s in a video or put words into the speaker’s mouth, with a sometimes disconcerting realism.

This technique is based on artificial intelligence and has been universally proven on social mediawhere there are lots of fun and weird creations featuring face-swapping celebrities.

However, the technology “can also be used by unscrupulous people… to spread illegal information… to smear and smear the reputations of others, and to steal identities.” to commit fraud,” China’s cyber regulator warned last month.

Deepfakes represent a “risk to National security and social stability” if they are not regulated, it said.

The new regulations requires businesses providing deepfake services to obtain the real identities of their users. They also ask deepfake content is appropriately labeled to avoid “any confusion” on the part of the public.

China has been quick to regulate technologies seen as potential threats to the stability or power of the Communist Party of the country.

Several domestic tech giants have been forced to provide details about their algorithms — often closely guarded company secrets — to authorities over the past year as Beijing asserts control over the world. control this field.

Authorities also moved against the country’s vibrant gaming sector in August, freezing the approval of new titles and putting limits on how long children can play games.

And in one of the most visible examples of China’s crackdown on the tech sector, regulators have suspended the biggest-ever IPO in the world — by the tech giant. financial Ant Group — in 2020 just days after founder Jack Ma criticized local regulators.

© 2023 AFP