China lays out ground rules to stem deepfake abuse
China has laid out ground rules to prevent “deep synthesis” technology, including deep fakes and virtual reality, from being misused. Anyone using these services must label the images accordingly and refrain from using the technology for activities that violate local regulations.
Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Public Security released a joint statement instructing the use of deep synthesis technology and services to be clearly indicated, so that it is not wrong to represent real information .
To be effective from January 10 next year, the new rules aim to protect national security and the country’s core social values, as well as to protect the rights and interests of citizens and organizations, the government agencies said.
They noted that while synthesis technology has improved user experience, it has also been used to impersonate identities and spread false and harmful information that tarnishes victims’ reputations. It endangered national security and social stability.
They added that regulations are needed to mitigate such risks and drive the “healthy” development of new technologies. The ground rules will also standardize the development of deep synthesis services and ensure compliance with the country’s other related regulations, including data security and personal information protection laws.
The new rules will apply to technology that uses deep learning, virtual reality and other synthetic algorithms to create text, images, video, audio and virtual scenes, including text-to-speech, voice editing, gesture manipulation, digital simulation, and 3D reconstruction.
Besides not using deep synthesis services to produce and distribute information prohibited by local laws, the new regulations also outline the need to implement a real identity data verification system as well as other management systems, such as user registration, algorithm review mechanism, data security, emergency response and ethics review. In addition, safety technical measures must be introduced.
These management rules and service agreements must be made public. Users will also need to establish mechanisms to address rumors in a timely manner if the use of deep synthesis services is used to publish or spread false information. The relevant government agencies will also need to be notified.
