Deepfakes and synthetic media an 'abiding concern' - political scientist

Monday, 20 May 2019

It's important to look at synthetic politics and deepfakes in a political context, particularly as the United States gears up for the presidential election in 2020, says Dr Amy Fletcher.

A political scientist has voiced concern about the prospect of 'rapid proliferation' of deepfakes in the political sphere.

Deepfakes and synthetic media are artificial intelligence based-technology used to produce or alter video content so it presents something that didn't happen.

A report on the impact of social media on democracy titled Digital Threats to Democracy, funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation and Luminate Group, cautioned against rushing to develop new laws to respond to synthetic media.

University of Canterbury Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations Dr Amy Fletcher said while the report was correct to caution against a knee-jerk regulatory response, it was important to consider synthetic media within a broad context.

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The Digital Threats to Democracy report conceded there was already a long list of laws that cover the issue, including the Privacy Act, Copyright Act and the Harmful Digital Communication Act.

The potential of synthetic media such as deepfakes can be scary, but many of the harms they produce are already dealt with by law, the report said.

But Fletcher said it was important to look at deepfakes in a political context, particularly as the United States gears up for the presidential election in 2020.

She said the 'potential use of synthetic media by both domestic and international actors' who have a vested interest in undermining the integrity of the election and destabilising American institutions was a legitimate and abiding concern, both for Americans and the wider world.

Fletcher said democracy was under intense pressure around the world, with political polarisation and extremism on the rise, while trust in institutions, politicians, and the mass media continued to decline.

While these issues were not necessarily new, they were 'increasingly urgent and pervasive', thanks to the speed and reach of advanced media technologies, Fletcher said.

'I think the question posed in Scientific American in 2017 remains spot-on: will democracy survive big data and artificial intelligence?

'Our track record to date suggests that we still do not know how to overcome the downsides of social media tools such as Twitter or Facebook, let alone deepfakes,' Fletcher said.

Vice President of Facebook Guy Rosen said last Wednesday that Facebook was commissioning US$7.5 million (NZ$11.5 million) of research from three US universities to improve its ability to analyse videos and photographs that might depict atrocities.

'This work will be critical for our broader efforts against manipulated media, including 'videos intentionally manipulated to depict events that never occurred,' he said.

He warned the work would be complex as 'adversaries continue to change tactics'.