Facebook bans deepfakes in fight against online manipulation

Facebook bans deepfakes in fight against online manipulation

LONDON (AP) — Facebook says it is banning “deepfake” videos, the false but realistic clips created with artificial intelligence and sophisticated tools, as it steps up efforts to fight online manipulation. But the policy leaves plenty of loopholes.

The social network said late Monday that it's beefing up its policies for removing videos edited or synthesized in ways that aren't apparent to the average person, and which could dupe someone into thinking the video's subject said something he or she didn't actually say.

Created by artificial intelligence or machine learning, deepfakes combine or replace content to create images that can be almost impossible to tell are not authentic.

“While these videos are still rare on the internet, they present a significant challenge for our industry and society as their use increases,” Facebook's vice president of global policy management, Monika Bickert, said in a blog post.

However, she said the new rules won't include parody or satire, or clips edited just to change the order of words. The exceptions underscore the balancing act Facebook and other social media services face in their struggle to stop the spread of online misinformation and "fake news," while also respecting free speech and fending off allegations of censorship.

The U.S. tech company has been grappling with how to handle the rise of deepfakes after facing criticism last year for refusing to remove a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slurring her words, which was viewed more than 3 million times. Experts said the crudely edited clip was more of a “cheap fake” than a deepfake.

Then, a pair of artists posted fake footage of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showing him gloating over his one-man domination of the world. Facebook also left that clip online. The company said at the time that neither video violated its policies.

The problem of altered videos is taking on increasing urgency as experts and lawmakers try to figure out how to prevent deepfakes from being used to interfere with the U.S. presidential election in November.

The new policy is a “strong starting point," but doesn't address broader problems, said Sam Gregory, program director at Witness, a nonprofit working on using video technology for human rights.

“The reality is there aren’t that many political deepfakes at the moment," he said. "They're mainly nonconsensual sexual images.”

The bigger problem is videos that are either shown without context or lightly edited, which some have dubbed “shallow fakes,” Gregory said. These include the Pelosi clip or one that made the rounds last week of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that was selectively edited to make it appear he made racist remarks.

Gregory, whose group was among those that gave feedback to Facebook for the policy, said that while the new rules look strong on paper, there are questions around how effective the company will be at uncovering synthetic videos.

Facebook has built deepfake-detecting algorithms and can also look at an account's behavior to get an idea of whether it's intention is to spread disinformation. That will give the company an edge over users or journalists in sniffing them out, Gregory said.

But those algorithms haven't been used widely for deepfakes in the wild. "So it is an open question how effective detection will be," he said. “This is an algorithmic kind of game of cat and mouse, where the forgeries will get better alongside the detection.”

Facebook said any videos, deepfake or not, will also be removed if they violate existing standards for nudity, graphic violence or hate speech. Those that aren't removed can still be reviewed by independent third-party fact-checkers and any deemed false will be flagged as such to people trying to share or view them, which Bickert said was a better approach than just taking them down.

“If we simply removed all manipulated videos flagged by fact-checkers as false, the videos would still be available elsewhere on the internet or social media ecosystem,” Bickert said. “By leaving them up and labeling them as false, we’re providing people with important information and context.”

Twitter, which has been another hotbed for misinformation and altered videos, said it's in the process of creating a policy for “synthetic and manipulated media,” which would include deepfakes and other doctored videos. The company has asked for public feedback on the issue. The responses it's considering include putting a notice next to tweets that include manipulated material. The tweets might also be removed if they're misleading and could cause serious harm to someone.

YouTube, meanwhile, has a policy against “deceptive practices” that the company says includes the “deceptive uses of manipulated media" that may pose serious risk of harm. For instance, the company removed the Pelosi video last year. Google, which owns YouTube, is also researching how to better detect deepfakes and other manipulated media.

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For all of AP's tech coverage, visit https://apnews.com/apf-technology

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Follow Kelvin Chan at www.twitter.com/chanman

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AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this story from San Francisco.

Santa Fe files lawsuit against Purdue Pharma

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Santa Fe is joining dozens of cities across the nation and is now suing Purdue Pharma.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, the capital city filed the suit on Tuesday in Santa Fe district court. Santa Fe’s move comes months after seven other New Mexico counties filed federal lawsuits against Purdue Pharma in May.

In total, cities and counties in 48 states are suing the drug manufacturer. In Santa Fe’s lawsuit, it states that the city, as well as others across the nation, became caught up in what is known as a “public health epidemic.”

The suit goes on to say Santa Fe has been labeled a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area by the Office of Drug Control Policy. It goes on to claim that Purdue used false and deceptive practices to market and distribute addictive opioid drugs.

Macy's bedding supplier under scrutiny in Texas for thread count

A supplier of bedding to Macy's is under scrutiny in Texas for allegedly misleading consumers about the quality of one of its products.

Sunham Home Fashions markets its four-piece Barrett Collection queen sheet set as having a 1,400-thread count. Yet a third-party test commissioned by the state's Agriculture Department found it has a thread count of 505, "which constitutes a materially false, misleading or deceptive act or practice," the agency said in a July 25 letter.

"TDA has determined the distributor, manufacturer and retailer may have engaged in deceptive acts and practices within the State of Texas," according to the letter sent to Sunham's New York office, Sunham Bedding Ltd., and Macy's, and obtained by Bloomberg.

Thread count is the term for how many threads are in each square inch of material. Broadly speaking, the higher the count, the softer and more pricey the sheets.

Sunham President Jane Bognacki initially said she would speak with a reporter, but then didn't respond to subsequent voicemails or emails. Macy's declined to comment.

Vartest Laboratories conducted the test on the sheet set. The state agency, in its letter, called for the companies involved to either stop selling the sheet set or to accurately repackage it to reflect the correct thread count.

As of Sept. 17, Macy's was still offering the Barrett Collection sheet set, which is made of a cotton and polyester mix. The queen-size set has a list price of $200 on the retailer's website, though a sale and extra discounting brought the price to $55.99. The package back says the set is made in India. Amazon.com Inc. and Bed Bath & Beyond are among other retailers that carry products from closely held Sunham, which was founded in Hong Kong in 1962.

The TDA also recommended that the Texas Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission investigate further and, if they determine deception occurred, "prosecute said actions to the fullest extent of federal and state law."

The state's Agriculture Department can enforce penalties on Texas-based companies, according to spokesman Mark Loeffler. But in situations where a company is based outside of the state, it refers the case to the Attorney General's office and the FTC.

Kayleigh Lovvorn, a spokeswoman with the Texas Attorney General's office, confirmed receipt of the letter, though declined to comment further. A spokesman for the FTC declined to comment.

This isn't the first case of alleged linen fraud. In 2016, Target ended its relationship with textile giant Welspun India after the retailer discovered that 750,000 sheets and pillowcases labeled as Egyptian cotton under the Fieldcrest brand didn't contain any Egyptian cotton and were made from a mix of lower-quality fibers. Target, whose investigators analyzed sheet fibers under microscopes and tracked their supply chain, had been Welspun's second-largest customer, behind Bed Bath & Beyond. Target offered refunds to customers.