Big Tech Told to Identify Deepfakes Ahead of EU Vote

AFP/APP

Brussels: The EU called on Facebook, TikTok, and other tech titans on Tuesday to crack down on deepfakes and other AI-generated content by using clear labels ahead of Europe-wide polls in June.

The recommendation is part of a raft of guidelines published under a landmark content law by the European Commission for digital giants to tackle risks to elections, including disinformation.

The EU executive has unleashed a string of measures to clamp down on big tech, especially regarding content moderation.

Its biggest tool is the Digital Services Act (DSA), under which the bloc has designated 22 digital platforms as “very large,” including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and X.

There has been feverish excitement over artificial intelligence since OpenAI’s ChatGPT arrived on the scene in late 2022, but the EU’s concerns over the technology’s harm have grown in parallel.

Brussels especially fears the impact of Russian “manipulation” and “disinformation” on elections taking place in the bloc’s 27 member states on June 6–9.

In the new guidelines, the commission said the largest platforms “should assess and mitigate specific risks linked to AI, for example, by clearly labeling content generated by AI (such as deepfakes).”.

The commission recommends that big platforms promote official information on elections and “reduce the monetization and virality of content that threatens the integrity of electoral processes” to diminish any risks.

“With today’s guidelines, we are making full use of all the tools offered by the DSA to ensure platforms comply with their obligations and are not misused to manipulate our elections while safeguarding freedom of expression,” said the EU’s top tech enforcer, Thierry Breton.

While the guidelines are not legally binding, platforms must explain what other “equally effective” measures they are taking to limit the risks if they do not adhere to them.

The EU can ask for more information, and if regulators do not believe there is full compliance, they can hit the firms with probes that could lead to hefty fines.