Lawmakers pressure Google, Meta and others to combat deepfake pornography

A bipartisan group of 26 U.S. lawmakers sent letters to seven major tech companies, demanding updates on how the platforms plan to counter the growing prevalence of pornographic “deepfakes” on social media.

According to lawmakers, the number of artificially created, sexually explicit impersonations of non-consenting people increased by 550% from 2019 to 2023; Deepfake pornography now accounts for 98% of deepfake videos online. cited In each of the seven letters sent to Google, Apple, X, ByteDance, Snapchat, Microsoft and Meta.

Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. “(Deepfake technology) has allowed abusers to create and disseminate realistic, non-consensual pornographic content, causing emotional, psychological and reputational harm,” the lawmakers, led by Dr. and August Pfluger, said. wrote R-Texas. “The dissemination of this content, often with little recourse for victims, underscores the need for stronger and more effective protection.”

Lawmakers highlighted specific examples of how each company failed to adequately or permanently address deepfake abuse incidents on their platforms.

Earlier this year, Google pledged to ban ads and enforce developer restriction policies and in-app reporting mechanisms for websites and services that produce deepfake pornography. But MPs said recent reports highlighted that Google continues to promote consequences for nudity apps.

Also in early 2024, Apple removed three deepfake creation apps from its store only after a 404 Media report highlighted the apps and showed that gaps in App Store screening processes and developer guidelines still remained.

Lawmakers have expressed particular concern about policies implemented by

It is unclear how X can determine whether content is consensual and how it can effectively police such content.

ByteDance, which owns TikTok, set 2023 standards that require all deepfakes or realistically manipulated content to be labeled to indicate that they are fake and cannot involve private individuals or minors, but it has not outright banned pornographic deepfakes from the platform.

Snap in response to deepfake nude images of a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat in October 2023. Inc now watermarks all images created by Snapchat’s AI tools. The company stated that it does not allow pornography on the platform and is committed to “ongoing AI literacy efforts,” but did not provide clear details on how the issue is being addressed.

Lawmakers have asked Microsoft to clarify details of its approach to addressing deepfakes on its platforms, including Bing search results, especially in light of how Microsoft’s Designer tool was used to create pornographic deepfakes of singer Taylor Swift.

They also questioned Meta about why deepfake images were removed for bullying and harassment violations rather than the platform’s pornography policies. Meta prohibits pornography or sexually explicit advertising on its platforms.

The letters asked each company to immediately provide Congress with detailed outlines of how they plan to solve this deepfake problem. With the new Congress sworn in in a few weeks, 26 lawmakers have vowed to continue the fight against artificial intelligence and deepfake exploitation.

“As Congress works to keep up with changes in technology, Republicans and Democrats will continue to ensure that online platforms do their part to cooperate with lawmakers and protect users from potential abuse,” the lawmakers said.