OUTLAWED

Facebook to Implement Rules Banning Deepfakes: WaPo

The new policy will reportedly ban deepfakes that are “edited or synthesized” in a way that average users would not easily notice.

Facebook is preparing to issue new rules that would ban users from posting deepfakes, or highly altered digital videos, as soon as Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. The policy does not ban all manipulated videos, three people familiar with the new rules told the Post. Facebook will ban videos that are “edited or synthesized” by technologies like artificial intelligence in a way that average users would not easily notice, or if the video attempts to make the subject say things they never did, the three people said. The Post reports that the viral manipulated video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that was digitally doctored to slow her speech and make her appear drunk, which was viewed millions of times, would not have been taken down by the new set of rules. According to the sources cited by the Post, Facebook will not ban videos manipulated for the point of parody or satire, but the posts could still be fact-checked and limited in their spread on the website. The new rules also do not restrict other forms of video deception, such as mislabeling footage, splicing dialogue, or taking quotes out of context, the Post reports.