The government is investigating the spread of the manipulated video and can bring a case against those responsible, the communications office said in a press release on Friday. The office said deepfakes “appearing to ask the armed forces to act against one other nation” had already been taken down, without mentioning China.
Local media reported that the deepfakes depict the Filipino leader calling for the usage of force in retaliation against China. Earlier this week, his communications office reported the manipulated content and said the president had not issued such an order.
Deepfake of Marcos Jnr ordering military motion against China is causing concern
Deepfake of Marcos Jnr ordering military motion against China is causing concern
“The Office of Presidential Communications has learned that there is video content circulating on the Internet on a popular video streaming platform that has manipulated audio designed to sound like President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jnr,” the PCO said in a press release on Tuesday.
“The fake audio recording attempts to make it appear as if the President has ordered our Philippine Armed Forces to take action against a specific foreign country. There is no such directive and it has not been issued,” he added.
According to the PCO, it is working on measures to combat fake news, disinformation and misinformation as part of its media and information literacy campaign.
“We are also closely coordinating with government agencies and relevant private sector stakeholders to actively counter the spread and malicious use of video and audio deepfakes and other generative AI content,” it said.
The Marcos deepfakes show how nations world wide, from the United States to India, are grappling with manipulated online content that tries to influence policy as artificial intelligence emerges.
Last yr, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr warned military and security personnel against using artificial intelligence apps to generate personal portraits, saying they could possibly be “maliciously used to create false profiles that may lead to identity theft, social engineering, phishing attacks and other harmful activities.”
The three lawmakers also demanded tougher penalties for crimes committed using deepfake technology through the bill.
Marcos of the Philippines rules out firing Vice President Duterte over wife dispute
Marcos of the Philippines rules out firing Vice President Duterte over wife dispute
The bill defines a “deepfake” as “any audio, visual or audiovisual recording created or altered by technical means, similar to a video recording, movie film, sound recording, electronic image or photograph, that’s so convincing that an affordable person would mistake it for an authentic representation of an individual’s speech or behavior.”
Illegal deepfakes may “infringe copyrights, violate data protection, defame individuals and violate privacy,” in keeping with the bill.
Additional reports by SCMP Asia Office
