Legislation creates annual DHS deepfake report

A group of lawmakers recently introduced legislation designed to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an annual study of deepfakes and other types of similar content.

Deepfakes are hyper-realistic, digital manipulations of real content depicting events that did not actually occur, prompting Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) to introduce the Deepfake Report Act.

“As AI becomes an intrinsic part of our economy and society, AI-based threats, such as deepfakes have become an increasing threat to our democracy,” Portman said.
“Addressing the challenges posed by deepfakes will require policymakers to grapple with important questions related to civil liberties and privacy. This bill prepares our country to answer those questions and address concerns by ensuring we have a sound understanding of this issue. As concerns with deepfakes grow by the day, I urge my colleagues to swiftly pass this bipartisan legislation.”

The bill requires DHS to assess the technology used to generate deepfake, as well as the uses of deepfakes by foreign and domestic entities, available countermeasures to deepfakes, in addition to proposed changes to, or creations of, additional statutory and regulatory authorities to address the rising threat of deepfakes.

“Deepfake technology is an example of how AI can be used in ways that can be damaging to our society and our democracy,” Heinrich said. “Any policy response needs to distinguish carefully between legitimate, protected speech and content that is intended to spread disinformation. This legislation will help increase awareness of deepfake technology and is a necessary first step toward determining how to address this growing threat.”