ChatGPT User in China Detained for Creating and Spreading Fake News
A recent police report from the northwest Chinese province of Gansu confirms the detention of a ChatGPT user for using AI-generated “deepfakes” to produce a fake news story. The police have taken strict enforcement actions under the recently enacted Chinese law to regulate the spread of such fabricated digital media.
The detained individual, identified only by his surname, Hong, used ChatGPT to create a fake news article about a train crash that led to the deaths of nine construction workers in Gansu. A media company in southern China spread the story across 21 accounts on a popular social platform. By the time Gansu security officials realized the article was fake, it had already received 15,000 views.
Although foreign websites like ChatGPT are technically unavailable in China, determined individuals can still access them via virtual private networks. The police report does not describe how Hong managed to use ChatGPT in the first place. The police raided Hong's residence to collect evidence and then took “criminal coercive measures” against him.
The new Chinese law came into effect on January 10 and prohibits several categories of deepfakes produced by “deep synthesis technologies” like machine learning and virtual reality. It specifically prohibits the use of such technologies to produce, publish or transmit fake news, which is a serious offense under the law.
According to a translation of the law provided by China Law Translate, the use of deepfakes is an offense when it endangers national security, harms the nation’s image or societal public interest or disturbs "economic or social order." However, the law offers only vague definitions for most of these categories.
This incident highlights the importance of monitoring the spread of fake news, even when it is generated through sophisticated technologies like AI-powered chatbots.
