philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

China bans deepfakes created without permission or for evil

PhilNote: China and US are attacking deep fakes from opposite directions; China will ONLY allow synthetic audio and visual creations that utilize an official, detectable watermark and prosecute sources that don't comply. US wants to use watermark detection to stop unauthorized use of audio and likenesses for hate speech, porn, and fake quotes and attributions.

'Deep synthesis service providers' otherwise free to create AI-generated humans in line with socialist values

China's Cyberspace Administration has issued guidelines on how to do deepfakes the right way. ...

Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create realistic depictions – usually videos – of humans saying and/or doing things they didn't say and/or do. They're controversial outside China for their potential to mislead audiences and create trouble for the people depicted.

Beijing clearly also has worries about the technique as the Cyberspace Administration (CAC) has issued regulations that prohibit their creation without the subject's permission, or to depict or utter anything that could be considered as counter to the national interest. Anything counter to socialist values falls under that description, as does any form of "Illegal and harmful information" or using AI-generated humans in an attempt to deceive or slander.

But the rules also suggest China expects synthetic humans will be widely used. For instance, they allow use of deepfakes in applications such as chatbots. In such scenarios, deepfakes must be flagged as digital creations.

The document also envisages that deepfakes will be used by online publishers, which must take into account China's myriad other rules about acceptable online content. ...

See the full story here: https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/12/china_deep_synthesis_deepfake_regulation/?mc_cid=a9015b68b8&mc_eid=116e9f337b