Early this week a fake video of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO was spotted on Instagram in which he is seen giving a sinister speech about the power of the social media giant. This case is going to be a big test on the platform’s policies regarding deepfake videos.
In the video made by two artists and an advertising company, Mark Zuckerberg says that he’s in control of people’s stolen data. The fake video even has chyrons to make it looks like a snippet from a news broadcast.
“Imagine this for a second: One man, with total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures. I owe it all to Spectre. Spectre showed me that whoever controls the data, controls the future.” Mark Zuckerberg is spotted saying.
The actual video where this fake one was made out from is from a late 2017 7-minute video where Mark is talking about Russian election interference. The video was made by CannyAI video dialogue replacement (VDR) technology. The Mark Zuckerberg video isn’t the only video as there’s a Donald Trump one and a Kim Kardashian deepfake video.
Facebook is yet to remove it and they don’t look like they’re planning to. Instagram released a statement saying that they will treat the video the same way they treat all misinformation on Instagram.
“If third-party fact-checkers mark it as false, we will filter it from Instagram’s recommendation surfaces like Explore and hashtag pages.”
Facebook is following the same policy they applied to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi viral deepfake video. The company received alot of backlash as a result. Facebook added disclaimers next to the video which directed users to fact-checking resources that debunked the video. In an appearance to before the US Congress, Facebook director of public policy, Neil Potts told the lawmakers that the same policy would be applied if a distorted video of Mark Zuckerberg appeared on its various platforms. The recent video will put this to the test.
Pentus-Rosimannus: If instead of Pelosi, a doctored video of Mark Zuckerberg was slowed down to make him seem impaired, would you leave it up?
Potts: Yes.
— Alex Boutilier (@alexboutilier) May 28, 2019
CBS News requested Instagram remove the video due to its trademark appearing unauthorized in the chyron. This is should be a good enough excuse for Facebook to remove it but they are yet to respond.
The creators of the video told Motherboard that the video was an opportunity for them to educate the public on how AI could be used now and in the future.
If this goes on, Facebook is setting a precedent that will allow other more malicious use for fake and deceptive content to be posted on its various platforms.
