Tag: Deepfake

Singapore – The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) has recently announced the introduction of the Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to introduce new legal measures to uphold integrity of online advertising during elections, as well as aiming to safeguard the integrity and truthfulness of representation during elections.

The bill was introduced to the Singapore Parliament on September, and seeks to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 (PEA) and the Presidential Elections Act 1991 (PrEA) to introduce new safeguards related to online advertising.

According to MDDI, the bill seeks to introduce new measures to protect Singaporeans from digitally manipulated content during elections, including artificial intelligence (AI)-generated misinformation, commonly known as deepfakes.

“In Singapore, we have observed a worrying trend of malicious deepfakes, including those used for scams and extortion. Deepfakes are a particularly concerning form of misinformation because they can realistically depict the appearance, voice, or action of an individual in a manner which can deceive or mislead the public,” MDDI said in a press statement.

It is worth noting that while the government can already deal with individual pieces of online falsehoods against the public interest through the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), targeted levers are needed under the country’s Online Election Advertising (OEA) regime to act on deepfakes that misrepresent candidates during elections. 

“Such content, if left unaddressed, can threaten the integrity of our electoral process. Voters must be able to make informed choices based on facts and not misinformation,” the ministry said.

Moreover, the bill proposes to prohibit the publication of digitally generated or manipulated OEA that realistically depicts a candidate saying or doing something that he or she did not in fact say or do. This prohibition will only apply to OEA depicting persons who are running as candidates for an election.

MDDI also stated that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will introduce a new Code of Practice requiring specified social media services to put in place measures to prevent and counter the abuse of digitally manipulated content on their service(s). IMDA will engage social media services in the coming months to work out the details of the code.

Bangkok, Thailand – In a move to raise awareness about long-lost persons in Thailand, non-profit organization The Mirror Foundation has collaborated with creative agency BBDO Bangkok in creating its latest campaign of showing ‘missing persons’ through deepfake technology.

Deepfake technology is generally looked to as synthetic media wherein someone’s face in a video is replaced with that of somebody else’s. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence, a video is manipulated to make it look like the person really appears to be who he or she is. .

The campaign, titled ‘The Missing Person Reporters’ shows the utilization of the persona of famous Thai personalities such as news reporter Tha Pipoauh where faces of the current missing person are edited to their bodies, and to make it show as if the missing person has now come alive. This then makes it possible to create a more alarming call for help, where the missing person is now able to announce himself that he is missing.

Despite the unusual approach of the campaign, The Mirror Foundation hopes that through it, viewers become more willing to help out in reported missing person cases, and be encouraged to be watchful of any possible help that can be given. 

“The Missing Person Reporters project creates a massive impact and impression on the public, beyond any ordinary missing-person report could. It ensures whoever’s watching remembers the missing persons’ faces and looks out for them in public, helping with the search to bring them home,” BBDO Bangkok said in a press statement.

For BBDO Bangkok, it is high time that ‘deepfakes’, known recently to be used in a negative light such as pornography, fake news, and hoaxes, be now used for the good: in this case raising awareness of missing persons.

Founded in 1991, The Mirror Foundation primarily operates for the benefit of hill tribes in Thailand such as promoting human rights, awareness on drug abuse, erosion of culture, and the trafficking of women and children.

The deepfake technology used was created in collaboration with Kunana, who shared that they are now able to perform the animated face swap with only one image of the missing person. As a result, this is the first time that missing person can call out for help by themselves on live TV and social media channels.

“Like many technologies, Deepfake has the potential to be utilized for both good and bad things. This project represents one of many possibilities to use advanced technology for a good cause and we are so glad that we could play a part in bringing this important cause to the forefront in a helpful and innovative way,” said Anuwat Nitipanont, CCO of BBDO Bangkok.