Facebook bans deepfake videos and manipulated content

Facebook in an announcement on Monday said that deepfake videos and manipulated media would be barred from the social-media site.

In a statement, the company says that it was taking a multipronged approach to address the issue, including investigating deceptive behaviors in artificially generated content and partnering with academia, government, and industry to better identify manipulated content.

After this announcement, the videos that are flagged will be subject to review by third-party fact-checkers to determine whether the content is false.

“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,'” Facebook said in a statement.

“While these videos are still rare on the internet, they present a significant challenge for our industry and society as their use increases.”

The company has also defined the type of deepfake content that would be removed from the site:

• It has been edited or synthesized — beyond adjustments for clarity or quality — in ways that aren’t apparent to an average person and would likely mislead someone into thinking that a subject of the video said words that they did not actually say.

• It is the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.

The policy does not affect content that is manipulated for the purpose of comedy or satire, the company clarified in the statement.