The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking to update a regulation that prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to impersonate businesses or government agencies in order to protect consumers from the growing threat of deepfakes.
Under the updated regulation, which is still subject to final language and public feedback, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) platforms could potentially face legal consequences if they offer products or services that they know could be used to harm consumers through impersonation.
FTC Chair Lina Khan stated in a press release that the updated rule would empower the agency to take direct legal action against scammers who acquire funds by impersonating government or business entities.
The final rule on government and business impersonation will come into effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The public will have 60 days to provide comments on the proposed rulemaking, with instructions on how to do so also published in the Federal Register.
Deepfakes, which use AI to manipulate videos by altering someone’s appearance, have become a significant concern. While there are currently no federal laws specifically addressing the creation or sharing of deepfake images, some lawmakers are taking steps to tackle this issue.
In theory, individuals who are victims of deepfakes, including celebrities, can seek legal recourse through copyright laws, rights related to their likeness, and various torts such as invasion of privacy or intentional infliction of emotional distress. However, pursuing cases under these multiple laws can be time-consuming and challenging.
In a separate move, on January 31, the Federal Communications Commission banned AI-generated robocalls by reinterpreting an existing rule that prohibits spam messages made by artificial or prerecorded voices. This decision was made following a phone campaign in New Hampshire that utilized a deepfake of President Joe Biden to discourage voter participation. In the absence of action from Congress, several states across the country have passed laws making deepfakes illegal.
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