Denmark plans to introduce law to clamp down on Al-generated deepfakes by allowing citizens to copyright their features

As AI-generated deepfakes are posing an unprecedented challenge to right to privacy globally, Denmark is planning to curb this menace through legislative measures. The Nordic country is reportedly contemplating amending its copyright law to put a check on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes online.

As per reports, the department of culture has secured a cross-party consensus regarding the proposed law, which will reportedly be the first law of its kind in Europe. The department is now planning to submit a proposal to amend the current Danish copyright law. A statement of the Danish government said that the law would strengthen the protection against digital imitations of identities of people by allowing them to have right over their body, facial features and voice.

“Since images and videos also quickly become embedded in people’s subconscious, digitally manipulated versions of an image or video can create fundamental doubts about – and perhaps even a completely wrong perception of – what are genuine depictions of reality,” said the statement published on Thursday (26^th June). “The agreement is therefore intended to ensure the right to one’s own body and voice,” it added.

Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt expressed hope that the proposed law would give “unequivocal message” that everyone has the right to their appearance and sound. “In the bill we agree and are sending an unequivocal message that everybody has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own facial features, which is apparently not how the current law is protecting people against generative AI,” Engel-Schmidt told the Guardian. “Human beings can be run through the digital copy machine and be misused for all sorts of purposes and I’m not willing to accept that,” he added.

Describing the move as “ground-breaking”, Engel-Schmidt said that “severe fines” could be imposed against platforms if they do not comply with the law. “That is why I believe the tech platforms will take this very seriously indeed,” he said. He expressed hope that once the law is passed, other countries will follow after Denmark. Engel-Schmidt informed that he would share Denmark’s plans with its European counterparts during Denmark’s forthcoming EU presidency.

If the amendments get through, it will confer a right on the Danish citizens to ask online platforms to take down any content related to them shared without their consent. However, the amended law would not affect parodies and satire, which would still be permitted. But it will cover “realistic, digitally generated imitations”, of the artist’s work without consent. An aggrieved person affected by the breach of the proposed law could also be entitled to compensation.

New Zealand MP raised deepfake issue by showing a nude image in Parliament

The development comes a month after New Zealand MP Laura McClure presented a manipulated nude image of herself in New Zealand’s Parliament to raise awareness about the misuses of deepfakes. While presenting the image, McClure pointed how easily this technology could be misused to abuse people. “Today in Parliament, I showed an AI-generated nude deepfake of myself to show how real – and easy – these are to create. The problem isn’t the tech itself, but how it’s being misused to abuse people. Our laws need to catch up,” McClure reportedly wrote on Instagram. She said that she wanted to make changes in the current legislation that prohibited sharing nude photos without consent to include deepfakes in it.

Other countries also addressed the problem of deepfakes

Other countries, including the US and South Korea, has also taken steps to deal with the problem of deepfakes. In May this year, US President Trump signed a bipartisan law making it illegal to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images without a person’s consent, including deepfakes.

Last Year, South Korea, also introduced measures to put a check on deepfake porn by providing harsher punishments and stepping up regulations for social media platforms.

During the AI Summit in Paris, PM Modi highlighted the potential risk of Artificial Intelligence such as deepfakes and disinformation and urged world leaders to democratise the technology and re-skilling the people.

What are deepfakes

Deepfakes are digitally manipulated media, including photos, audios and videos, created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and made to look real and authentic making them indistinguishable from original content. They are a potent tool which can be used for both positive and negative purposes. Deepfakes can be useful for entertainment, educational and creative purposes, but they can also be used to spread fake information, commit scams and personal harm.

Recently, the misuses of deepfakes came to light after some celebrities were targeted with manipulated images and videos. Last year, globally renowned artist, Taylor Swift, became a victim of deepfake images. Many explicit AI-generated deepfake images depicting the pop star engaged in various lewd scenarios were circulated on the internet. The explicit images, viewed over 27 million times and accumulating more than 260,000 likes within 19 hours.

In November last year, a manipulated video of Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna appeared online sparking discussions on digital safety. In the viral video, a woman resembling the actress Rashmika was entering a lift wearing a black swimsuit. The video quickly went viral and several social media users came forward to confirm that it was a deep fake. It was later identified that the video was of a British Actress Zara Patel. Several other famous persons like legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, senior journalist Rajat Sharma, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been subjected to the misuse on deepfakes.

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