WASHINGTON   –   Facebook and Insta­gram giant Meta on Friday said it will begin labeling AI-generated media be­ginning in May, as it tries to reassure users and gov­ernments over the risks of deepfakes. The social me­dia juggernaut added that it will no longer remove manipulated images and audio that don’t otherwise break its rules, relying instead on labeling and contextualization, so as to not infringe on freedom of speech. The changes come as a response to crit­icism from the tech giant’s oversight board, which independently reviews Meta’s content modera­tion decisions. The board in February requested that Meta urgently over­haul its approach to ma­nipulated media given the huge advances in AI and the ease of manipulating media into highly convinc­ing deepfakes. The board’s warning came amid fears of rampant misuse of ar­tificial intelligence-pow­ered applications for dis­information on platforms in a pivotal election year not only in the United States but worldwide. Me­ta’s new “Made with AI” labels will identify content created or altered with AI, including video, audio, and images. Additionally, a more prominent label will be used for content deemed at high risk of misleading the public. “We agree that providing transparency and additional context is now the better way to ad­dress this content,” Monika Bickert, Meta’s Vice Presi­dent of Content Policy, said in a blog post. “The labels will cover a broader range of content in addition to the manipulated content that the Oversight Board rec­ommended labeling,” she added. These new labeling techniques are linked to an agreement made in Febru­ary among major tech gi­ants and AI players to crack down on manipulated con­tent intended to deceive voters. Meta, Google and OpenAI had already agreed to use a common water­marking standard that would tag images generat­ed by their AI applications.

– Biden deepfakes –

Meta said its rollout will occur in two phases with AI-generated content la­beling beginning in May 2024, while the removal of manipulated media solely based on the old policy will cease in July. Accord­ing to the new standard, content, even if manipu­lated with AI, will remain on the platform unless it violates other Community Standards, such as those prohibiting hate speech or voter interference.