The VVD wants an end to "the manufacture, offering, downloading or use" of deepfake technology. The phenomenon involves great risks. A ban would therefore be appropriate. The party does not advocate a total ban, but only a ban for private use.
So Queeny Rajkowski and Ulysse Ellian (both VVD) tell Algemeen Dagblad (1).
A deepfake is a photo or video that looks lifelike, but in reality is fake. It looks like you are looking at a famous person, but in reality his image -with or without his voice- has been recreated with modern technology. The technology to create deepfakes is getting better every day. The quality is often so good that the fake video is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Deepfakes are often used in Hollywood films. The makers of Star Wars used the technology to portray a young Luke Skywalker in the series The Mandalorian. Deepfake technology was used in the movie Gemini Man to pit Will Smith against a younger version of himself. And in the movie The Irishman, this technology was used to portray Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as young men.
However, deepfake technology is also used for malicious purposes. For example, presenter Dionne Stax appeared in deepfake porn in August 2019, and the same thing happened to journalist Welmoed Sijtsma recently. In both cases, the women had to put a lot of time and energy into taking the video offline and tracking down the perpetrator. If such a video continues to circulate on the Internet, it is not good for the image of journalists.
Another example where deepfaking technology was misused was seen in April 2021. At the time, Dutch MPs thought they were talking to Leonid Volkov, the chief of staff of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Afterwards, it turned out to be an impersonator. According to the real Volkov, Putin was behind the talks and the Kremlin used Zoom as a weapon to spread disinformation.
Such examples are reason for the VVD to ban deepfakes. "Deepfakes are increasingly indistinguishable from real videos. That is dangerous. For example, you see many people becoming victims of fake revenge porn videos. But also if you make a deepfake of a politician, you can put very strange words in their mouth. That can have major consequences nationally, but also internationally. Elections can be influenced, and also on a geopolitical scale the flame can be set alight," Rajkowski told the Algemeen Dagblad.
The politician acknowledges that there are also good sides to deepfakes. She refers to a deepfake video the police had made of then 13-year-old Sedar Soares in an attempt to track down the perpetrator. Deepfakes can also be used for satirical purposes, such as a Christmas video that went viral last year in which Mark Rutte, Hugo de Jonge, Diederik Gommers and Jaap van Dissel supposedly sang a Christmas song.
The VVD therefore wants to see a ban only on the private use of deep-phishing technology. "That way, companies can still use the technology in an innovative way," Rajkowski said.
The VVD member believes that social media itself is responsible for enforcing the ban. Rajkowski is thinking of a watermark and a system that removes deepfake videos. "Those platforms themselves have built into the system that a video can explode in a short time. If they can make money from you, they will deploy the latest technology. If they have to take responsibility against illegal content, then suddenly it becomes too much. They just sort it out," the liberal said.
https://www.ad.nl/politiek/vvd-wil-een-verbod-op-deepfakes-sociale-media-moeten-verantwoordelijkheid-nemen~a94e3dfd0/
