Biden Deepfake: Meta Urged To Revisit Policy 'Incoherent And Confusing To Users'

In a recent development, Meta’s META Oversight Board has concluded that a controversial video on Facebook, falsely suggesting President Joe Biden is a pedophile does not breach the company’s current regulations. The board, however, has criticized the rules as “incoherent.”

What Happened: The Oversight Board, an independent entity funded by Meta, declared that the video’s content policy is too narrowly focused on AI-generated material and lacks a clear rationale, reported Reuters. The video, which was a seven-second altered clip of Biden during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, is the first case to be reviewed under Meta’s “manipulated media” policy.

The board has suggested that Meta extend the rule to cover audio and video content, regardless of AI usage, and apply labels identifying them as manipulated. However, it advised against extending the policy to photographs, stating that this could make it too challenging to enforce at Meta’s scale.

The policy “is lacking in persuasive justification, is incoherent and confusing to users, and fails to clearly specify the harms it is seeking to prevent”, the board said.

Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, informed the board during the review that it plans to update the policy to adapt to the evolving AI landscape. The altered video of Biden had begun to circulate as early as January 2023.

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The Oversight Board affirmed Meta’s decision to keep the video up under its current policy, which prohibits misleadingly altered videos only if they are produced by AI or if they make individuals appear to say words they never actually said. The board emphasized that non-AI-altered content is equally misleading and recommended that the policy also apply to audio-only content.

Why It Matters: This development follows a series of events that have brought the issue of deepfake content to the forefront. In October, Meta was under scrutiny for its policies on manipulated content and AI-created “deepfakes” following its refusal to remove a misleading video of Biden from Facebook. This sparked a review by the company’s Oversight Board to assess the adequacy of Meta’s guidelines on altered videos and images.

Meanwhile, the spread of explicit AI-generated images of singer Taylor Swift led to a temporary halt in searches for the singer on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. This incident shed light on the growing concern over the use of deep fake technology to create and circulate misleading content.

Despite the controversies, Meta has remained committed to advancing AI technology. During the company’s Q4 2023 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg emphasized Meta’s goal to develop the most popular and advanced AI products and services. This commitment to AI innovation raises questions about how Meta will balance technological advancement with the need to address the potential misuse of AI, such as in the case of deepfake content.

Furthermore, the U.S. government’s efforts to democratize access to AI research, with the support of tech giants like Meta, have the potential to shape the responsible use of AI technology. In January, companies including Meta pledged to aid President Biden’s project to make AI research more accessible.

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Photo by DANIEL CONSTANTE on Shutterstock