Denmark’s government is seeking to ban AI deepfakes in order to help reduce the misspreading of information.
As part of the proposal, the Danish government has put forward that deepfakes could make it impossible to know what’s real or not online. The law will make it illegal to share or distribute deepfake content of someone’s personal likeness, including a voice, a face, or both,
“It’s high time we create a safeguard against the spread of misinformation and send a clear signal to the tech giants,” commented Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Denmark’s Minister of Culture.
Deepfake content can sway the public’s opinion on events and politics. Engel-Schmidt explains, “Digitally manipulated versions of an image or video can create fundamental doubts about—and perhaps even a completely wrong perception of—what are genuine depictions of reality. The agreement is therefore intended to ensure the right to one’s own body and voice.”
Once the law is passed, Denmark believes that a second step would be introduced that could see companies being fined if they do not comply with requests to remove deepfake content.