When there exists a new and a potentially powerful weapon that can be easily deployed during this golden age of disinformation that we live in, most politicos and their operators would probably prefer to turn a blind eye to it, keeping it below the radar so government won’t be forced to intervene, which would allow them to deploy that tool when they do need it, which is usually during the election season.
That could’ve been the case with deepfake technology, which will probably be one of the most used tools for campaign season disinformation black ops, had it not been used rather prematurely on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week, when a deepfaked video of him went viral.
Last week, the Presidential Communications Office warned against an “audio deepfake” that made it appear that the president had ordered the military “to act against a particular foreign country.”
The deepfake couldn’t be ignored as it was circulated at a particularly tense time for Philippine and Chinese bilateral relations, as our country finally has shifted its formerly docile position and became more assertive with regard to its sovereign rights and claims in the West Philippine Sea and exclusive economic zone, which has been met with increased harassment of Philippine vessels by China.
Deepfakes are usually made using machine learning and generative artificial intelligence to fabricate media. Prominent personalities worldwide have been victims of deepfakes, as aside from their prominence making them easier targets, there is also a wealth of source material, in terms of photos or videos of them, which are necessary for the deepfake creation engine to feed on in order to produce the desired fakery.
But, if you come to think of it, anyone can be targeted by deepfakes. So aside from politicos being made to say things they didn’t, another common but nefarious application of deepfakery is the creation of fake nudes or sex videos using anyone’s photo that could be found on the internet. This means any of us, our family, or close friends, could be the targets of any psycho who fancies us for any kind of depravity that the deepfake engine can and will generate at their behest.
Deepfakes are a serious threat to everyone, but government hasn’t really done much about it, not only because it is quite difficult to control or regulate, but if you come to think of it, another reason could also be because many politicos still want to be able to have it in their electoral and campaign black ops toolbox, hence the lack of a concerted effort to stamp it out, at least for now.
Now that PBBM has been targeted by a deepfake, the PCO said it was working with various agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Security Council, the National Cybersecurity Inter-Agency Committee, as well as the private sector, “to actively address the proliferation and malicious use of video and audio deepfakes and other generative AI content.”
Hopefully that is a call for a crackdown on the use and abuse of deepfakes in general, all throughout the country, and not only to protect the interests of the Palace, because the issue of deepfakes necessitates a determined government response that will protect everyone, and not just the powerful and influential.
As we wait for our government to respond to the threat, we also have to be practical and vigilant when it comes to deepfakes, because we can very easily be the victims of a deepfake from either of its many pointy ends.
The more gullible and less discerning ones could fall for any deepfake, so we really need to take a crash course or refresher on how to check our sources. If we don’t know how to do that, maybe we should ask our kids to do it for us, because it is very possible that they who have been raised in this age of technology are now much better than us at spotting hoaxes and disinformation. For now, the safest route would be to assume that everything is a deepfake, so we don’t easily fall for anything we see.
Aside from being fooled, we could also be deepfaked. In this case, the motive is usually for bullying, blackmail or to do reputational harm. With enough material and the right software, a deepfake of you performing a sexual act or doing drugs can be created, and there isn’t much we can do from stopping a determined deep faker who wants to target us. For now, the best defense would be to avoid oversharing on social media so they don’t have the ammunition to create deepfakes. Remember: the more source material available, the better a deepfake becomes. Just be aware that if you have a lot of photos and videos shared to the world, you’d be easier to deepfake. It’s a scary thought for those who have overloaded social media streams, but that’s life in this brave new world and that is why we need government to be more proactive in providing the necessary protections from such attacks.
Deepfakes aren’t all that bad, as it has legitimate applications in customer service and the arts, making a blanket ban impossible. However, the ways it can be used for evil has to be addressed by government. Laws against the worst kinds of deepfakes should be necessary, particularly against the type that involves pornography, political hack jobs, blackmail, national security, and cyberbullying. The creation and use of such deepfakes should be made illegal with hefty fines and penalties
Now that the president has been targeted with a deepfake that went viral, hopefully our government acts quickly to put the necessary protections in place for everyone, which is a good thing because there is an election cycle next year, where deepfakes are expected to be widely weaponized by candidates who are willing to win at all costs.
If there was anything good that came from that deepfake of PBBM, the added awareness and government action would be it.*
