(NewsNation) — An independent board that oversees Meta’s platforms backed a decision not to remove a manipulated video of President Joe Biden but criticized the current policies regarding such content for being “incoherent and confusing.”
The Oversight Board said the video, which was based on actual footage posted to Facebook in 2022, does not violate Meta’s “Manipulated Media” policy.
The committee said the posted video does not violate Meta’s policy because the original footage was not altered or manipulated using AI. The Meta policy only applies to AI-altered video that shows people saying something they did not say. The board also found that the alteration of the video is “obvious” and is unlikely to mislead the “average user.”
What is in the Biden deepfake video?
The footage was taken from a seven-second Facebook clip in which Biden voted in person during the midterm elections. The video shows Biden exchanging “I Voted” stickers with his granddaughter, who instructs the president to place the sticker above her chest.
The altered version of the video, which was posted six months later, loops the footage, making it appear Biden is touching the young woman inappropriately repeatedly, including a caption describing the president as a “dirty pedophile.”
The board said a different Facebook user reported the post to Meta as hate speech, which was closed automatically without review. The initial decision was appealed, which led to a human reviewer determining the video did not violate Meta’s policy. A further appeal was then filed with the Oversight Board.
What is a deepfake?
Deepfakes are a type of artificial intelligence that is used to create convincing images, audio and video — often of celebrities, politicians or other famous people — that depict something the person did not say or do, typically as a hoax.
Hoaxers rely on AI, which is learning from other material on the internet, to create the content.
Meta’s Oversight Board’s decision
The board said it’s concerned about Meta’s Manipulated Media policy in its current form, deeming the policy “incoherent” and lacking in persuasive justification.
Members concluded the policy is inappropriately focused on how the content was created rather than the harm it could potentially do, particularly in an election year.
“The volume of misleading content is rising, and the quality of tools to create it is rapidly increasing,” Oversight Board co-Chair Michael McConnell said in a statement released by the board. “Platforms must keep pace with these changes, especially in light of global elections during which certain actors seek to mislead the public.”
What happens next?
Meta spokesman Corey Chambliss told NewsNation on Monday that the company will review its policy and respond within 60 days in accordance with its bylaws. Chambliss said that the company updated its response on the case on its transparency page, saying it welcomes the Oversight Board’s decision.
Sam Gregory, the executive director of the human rights organization Witness, said Meta should have an adaptive policy that addresses “cheap fakes” but should not be overly restrictive in removing satirical material not designed to be misleading.
“Since the quality of AI deception and the ways you can do it keeps improving and shifting, this is an important element to keep the policy dynamic as AI and usage gets more pervasive or more deceptive, or people get more accustomed to it,” Gregory told the BBC.
