China’s new rules for content providers that alter facial and voice data will come into effect on January 10, its cyber regulator said, as it seeks to more strictly control so-called “deepfake” technologies and services.
Regulations issued late Sunday by China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) state that people are to be protected from being impersonated without their consent using deepfakes — images that are virtually indistinguishable from the original and can easily be used for manipulation or disinformation.
The CAC said the move was aimed at limiting the risks that may arise from activities provided by such platforms that use deep learning or virtual reality to alter any online content, which the regulator calls “deep synthesis service providers”, as well as promoting healthy development .
