Facebook sets new rules for deepfakes and manipulated media

The world’s largest social network, Facebook, recently announced that it will ban deepfakes on the platform. Deepfakes are videos which are manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make someone say things they didn’t actually say. The initiative is part of Facebook’s efforts to ban “manipulated content” on the platform.

“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 said in a blog post.

Facebook submitted two criteria for banning such videos. The first being if a video 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.” The company noted that AI, photoshop etc.