Meta to mark AI, deepfakes to shield election integrity | The ...
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AI-generated Content Labeling
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, will require posts generated by artificial intelligence or digitally manipulated to carry a disclaimer. It follows concerns realistic deepfakes - digitally altered images, video, or audio that are becoming harder to detect - could be used to spread disinformation and fake news during the election campaign. Photorealistic content in ads created by Meta AI will carry a label, as will generated images users post to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads from Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Midjourney, and Shutterstock.
More prominent labels will be added to altered images, video, or audio "that creates a high risk of deceiving the public on a matter of importance," Meta said. Ads that don't adhere will be rejected, and repeat offenders will face penalties. Advertisers who run ads about social issues, elections, or politics also have to include authorizations, including a "paid for by" disclaimer and they're accessible on Meta's publicly available library.
Mitigating Misinformation
Training sessions are run with candidates and political parties ahead of the election to ensure they have the correct authorizations during the campaign. Analyzing other elections worldwide, Meta found concerns about the rampant spread of deepfakes and misinformation didn't materialize in a significant way. While such posts were used, they were low in volume, which echoes what Australia's acting electoral commissioner said about deepfakes during the US election.
More than one per cent of fact-checked misinformation on posts about social issues, elections, and politics were AI-generated, Meta determined. The company is also working to track coordinated foreign influence operations and says it has taken down more than 200 of these networks since 2017. "This is a highly adversarial space where deceptive campaigns we take down continue to try to come back and evade detection by us and other platforms," it noted.
Ensuring Electoral Integrity
It is also working with the Australian Electoral Commission to connect voters to verified information across its platforms, the company said. Users will receive a reminder to vote on polling day.
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