The Meta Oversight Board is now recommending an update on the company's deepfake rules, claiming that this is outdated, based on its two recent cases involving generative AI images. It is now requesting an update to the said rule as Meta failed to remove these sexually-explicit deepfakes on the platform which was found in two separate incidents that spread online.
It is known that the Oversight Board, despite being under Meta, is an independent body that reviews cases specifically, particularly if users disagree with the platform's decision.
Meta Oversight Board Recommends Updating Deepfake Rules
JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images
According to the latest release shared by the Oversight Board, it is now recommending a significant policy change to take effect on Meta's rules, particularly with deepfake content online.
Its top recommendation says that Meta should move the "derogatory sexualized photoshop" to the existing Adult Sexual Exploitation Community Standard of the platform to address its deepfake problems.
Additionally, the body wants the company to change certain terminologies like "derogatory" to "non-consensual" and "photoshop" to a more fitting term for manipulated media, which in this case, centers heavily on deepfakes.
This decision was released after the Oversight Board completed its evaluation of two sexually-explicit deepfakes that were posted on Meta's platforms. Both are focusing on female public figures edited to be nude, with the first one centering on an Indian personality which Meta failed to take down the post.
The next one is about an American public figure which the platform immediately removed from its social media.
It was regarded by the Oversight Board that explicit deepfake cases are mainly focused on women and are non-consensual.
Meta and its Run-ins with the Oversight Board
The rise of generative AI has been a significant danger to online safety and security, evidenced by many people falling victim to various cases of misinformation and attacks against their dignity, with threats having a significant presence in the present.
One of the most significant problems the world is facing now is the prevalence of election misinformation campaigns launched globally, looking to disrupt the process and malign the public. Meta is currently facing this problem until the present, particularly as threats now appear significantly online, and it is not only centered in the United States.
Meta Oversight Board has previously flagged down a video about President Joe Biden regarded as a "pedophile" by the bad actors, with Facebook initially failing to take down the media. Later on, the Oversight Board classified the video as "malicious," and has since taken down this deepfake video about the POTUS, taking a long time before its deliberation.
For several instances, Meta's moderation technology has failed in removing these kinds of posts, but the Oversight Board fulfills its promise for a safer social media experience for users.
After the deliberation of the two sexual deepfakes that spread on Meta's platforms, the Oversight Board has taken it down, and now recommends an update on its social media policies to better address these kinds of damaging content.
