Context: Technological advancement that has fueled media creation today, has provided opportunities for all people, regardless of their demography, ethnicity, religion etc. In this article we are going to  discuss the threat emerging out of Deepfakes and measures to counter it.

About Deep Fakes

• Deep Fakes are the digital media (video, audio, and images) manipulated using Artificial Intelligence.
• Cybercriminals use AI software — now easily available on apps and websites — to superimpose a digital composite (assembling multiple media files to make a final one) on to an existing video, photo or audio.
• Using Deep Fakes its possible to fabricate media by swapping faces, lip-syncing, and puppeteer.
• Access to cloud computing, algorithms, and abundant data has opened opportunities for media manipulation.
• Deep Fakes have now become new tool to spread computational propaganda and disinformation at large scale and at faster rate.
• Disinformation perpetuated using new technologies like Deep Fakes are increasingly used for creating social discord, polarisation, and in some cases, influencing an election outcome.
• Deep Fakes and hyper-realistic digital falsification can inflict damage to individuals, institutions, businesses and democracy.

Associated Threat

• Impact on women: Pornographic Deep Fakes reduce women to sexual objects and harms their reputation and psychology.
• Economic impact: Using audio and video deepfakes it is possible to deceive individuals for financial gains. Also, it can be used to extract money, confidential information, or exact favours from individuals.
• Impact on media: It further erodes the trust in news media and can contribute to a culture of factual relativism.
• Impact on security: It can be used by insurgent groups and terrorist organisations to cultivate anti-state sentiments among people.
• Impact on social institutions: False information about institutions, public policy, and politicians powered by a deepfakes can be exploited to alter the democratic discourse and undermine trust in institutions.
• Impact on Democratic processes: A Deepfake produced to harm the image and reputation of political candidate can confuse voters and disrupt elections.
• Impact on citizen’s Freedom: Authoritarian regimes can use this as a tool to justify oppression and to disenfranchise citizens.

Possible Solutions

• Multi-stakeholder and multi-modal approach: collective techniques across legislative regulations, technology intervention, and media literacy can provide effective and ethical countermeasures to mitigate the threat of malicious deepfakes.
• Media literacy for consumers and journalists: Consumers of media must have the ability to decipher, understand, translate, and use the information they encounter.
• Regulation: Facilitate disincentivising the creation and distribution of malicious deepfakes.
• Technology intervention: Need easy-to-use and accessible technology solutions to detect deepfakes.
• Behavioural change: Falsity goes viral more than the truth on social platforms. Citizens should restrain themselves from spreading disinformation and become a part of the solution to this infodemic.
• Re-evaluate: The principle of Democratising nature of information dissemination need to be discussed, debated.

Road Ahead

• To defend the truth and secure freedom of expression, there is a need for a multi-stakeholder and multi-modal approach. Collaborative actions and collective techniques across legislative regulations, platform policies, technology intervention, and media literacy can provide effective and ethical countermeasures to mitigate the threat of malicious deep fakes.