This archive report was first published on 8 January 2020.
Facebook has taken a significant step to combat the spread of misinformation ahead of the US elections by banning deepfake videos. However, the social media giant has also clarified that parody and satire clips will still be allowed.
Deepfake videos are hyper-realistic doctored clips made using artificial intelligence or programs that have been designed to accurately fake real human movements. Facebook's new policy aims to remove clips that are edited in ways that 'aren't apparent to an average person' and could mislead people.
According to Facebook vice-president Monika Bickert, clips will be removed if they are 'the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic.' However, this policy does not extend to content that is parody or satire, or video that has been edited solely to omit or change the order of words.
US media noted that the new guidelines would not cover videos such as the 2019 viral clip of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that appeared to show her slurring her words. Facebook has also given no indication on the number of people assigned to identify and take down the offending videos, but said videos failing to meet its usual guidelines would be removed, and those flagged clips would be reviewed by teams of third-party fact-checkers, including AFP.
AFP has been paid by Facebook to fact-check posts across 30 countries and 10 languages as part of a program starting in December 2016. Content labelled 'false' is not always removed from newsfeeds but is downgraded so fewer people see it - alongside a warning explaining why the post is misleading.
