INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
A comparison of an original and deepfake video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook has announced it will remove videos modified by artificial intelligence, known as deepfakes, from its platform
Deepfakes are computer-generated clips that are designed to look real
The social media company said in a blog that these videos distort reality and present a "significant challenge" for the technology
industry.While deepfakes are still relatively uncommon on the internet, they are becoming more prevalent
AI software creates deepfakes of people - often politicians or celebrities - by merging, replacing, or superimposing content on to a video
in a way that makes it look real
Facebook said it would remove videos if it realised they had been edited in ways that weren't obvious to an average person, or if they
misled a viewer into thinking that a person in a video said words they did not actually say
"There are people who engage in media manipulation in order to mislead," wrote Monika Bickert, vice president of global policy management at
Facebook staff and independent fact-checkers will be used to judge a video's authenticity
The new policy will not apply to parody or satire videos
'Difficult area'Last September, Facebook announced it was contributing $10m (£7.6m) to a fund to improve deepfake detection technologies
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, has himself featured in a deepfake video
The clip featured a computer-generated version of Zuckerberg crediting a secretive organisation for the success of the social
network.William Tunstall-Pedoe, a computer scientist who sold his AI company to Amazon, told TheIndianSubcontinent News that Facebook
deserved credit for trying to tackle the "difficult area"."The fact the video is fake and intended to be misleading is the key thing for
"Whether sophisticated AI techniques are used or less sophisticated techniques isn't relevant."Other companies like Google and Microsoft are
also trying to combat deepfakes
Facebook said it plans to work with academia, government, and businesses to expose the people behind deepfakes
The Californian tech giant added that it would continue to remove all videos that include nudity, graphic violence, voter suppression and
Altered video of US politicianFacebook has been criticised for refusing to remove an altered video of US House of Representatives Speaker
Nancy Pelosi that went viral last summer
The video is edited to make it look like she was slurring her words
However, Facebook told Reuters it would not be taking the video down under the new policy
"The doctored video of Speaker Pelosi does not meet the standards of this policy and would not be removed," the company reportedly said
"Only videos generated by artificial intelligence to depict people saying fictional things will be taken down."
