Defending Deepfakes and Forgeries on the Internet: The Impact of Microsoft, Tech Companies, and the House Intelligence Protection Act

Musk posts should be clearly labeled a deepfake by Microsoft. “Congress should require AI system providers to use state-of-the-art provenance tooling to label synthetic content,” says Smith. It is important to build trust in the information ecosystems and the public will better understand if content is manipulated or artificial.

Microsoft wants Congress to regulate deepfakes to protect against fraud, abuse, and manipulation. Brad Smith is the Microsoft vice chair and president and he is calling for urgent action to protect elections and guard seniors from fraud.

Microsoft has had to implement more safety controls for its own AI products, after a loophole in the company’s Designer AI image creator allowed people to create explicit images of celebrities like Taylor Swift. “The private sector has a responsibility to innovate and implement safeguards that prevent the misuse of AI,” says Smith.

Tech platforms should not be allowed to use Section 230 as a reason to avoid protecting users from harms, according to statements made by two people. Congress has to stop these corporations from hiding their responsibility for the spread of deepfakes and digital forgeries on their platforms. Hinson added, “Big Tech companies shouldn’t be able to hide behind Section 230 if they aren’t protecting users from deepfakes and other intimate privacy violations.”

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers are trying to create protection for tech companies that fail to remove intimate artificial intelligence from their platforms.

The Kids Online Safety Act will pass through the Senate on Tuesday with overwhelming support, because the Intimate Privacy Protection Act has a duty of care as well. That might suggest it’s becoming a popular way to create new protections on the internet.

Section 230 protection for platforms was created when it was made up of smaller players and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle wish to narrow it. But most of the time, Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on how exactly the statute should be changed. Section 230 protections were not used when sex-trafficking charges were carved out by Congress.