YoiuTube
has reiterated its ban on deepfake videos and announced tougher measures to remove suspicious content. This also extends to so-called 'birther' videos. The Google-owned video service
has placed a special emphasis upon removing an U.S. election-related “deepfake” videos plus any other content that has the intention to mislead viewers about voting procedures and how to participate in the 2020 poll.
For an expert take on the ban, Digital Journal contacted
Robert Prigge, CEO of
Jumio. According to Prigge, the imposition of controls is an important move: "Because deepfakes have proven to spread misinformation and damage reputations, regulation is critical. YouTube’s decision to ban deepfakes is a step in the right direction, but there is still plenty of room for improvement."
In setting out why deepfakes present a dangerous development for the digital world, Prigge says: "Deepfakes pose a serious threat to the digital economy and the evolution of digital identity because it’s far too easy to use AI to create realistic deepfakes – and they can be weaponized to commit fraud."
As well as issuing a warning, Prigge presents a solution: "To prevent deepfakes from becoming the next leading attack vector, advanced authentication methods, such as face-based authentication, must be able to detect and stop deepfakes in order to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving fraud curve.”
Face-based biometric authentication is more secure compared with traditional methods of online verification, since this form of biometric data cannot be hacked or duplicated. In addition, the process is often regarded by users as more convenient, avoiding the need to remember complex passwords.
In a similar move,
Facebook has also announced it will remove videos modified by artificial intelligence from its platform.
