Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is set to introduce new guidelines requiring political advertisers to disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or digital manipulation in their adverts on the social media platforms.
While Meta already has policies in place regarding the use of deepfakes, this initiative represents an additional layer of transparency. Beginning in January, advertisements related to politics, elections, or social issues will be obligated to declare any digitally altered images or videos they contain.
The global policy will undergo moderation by a combination of human and AI fact-checkers. According to Meta, this disclosure requirement encompasses actions such as altering the dialogue in a video, modifying real event images or footage, and portraying lifelike individuals who are entirely fictitious.
Users will receive notifications when adverts have been tagged as digitally manipulated, though specific details on how this information will be presented have not been provided by Meta.
It is noteworthy that advertisers will not be required to declare minor adjustments like cropping or color correction, unless such changes significantly impact the central claim, assertion, or issue raised in the advertisement.
Meta’s existing policies regarding deepfake videos encompass all users, not solely advertisers. Any deepfake content that “would likely mislead an average person into believing a subject of the video uttered words they did not say” is subject to removal.
Under the forthcoming rules, political, electoral, and social issue-related advertisements must disclose any form of digital alteration, whether carried out by AI or human intervention, prior to their publication on Facebook or Instagram.
Meta’s other social media platform, Threads, will adhere to the same policies as Instagram. The company states that failure to declare digital manipulation when uploading advertisements may result in ad rejection and potential penalties for the advertiser.
In a related move, Google recently announced a similar disclosure policy for its platforms, while TikTok maintains a stance of not allowing any political advertising whatsoever.