New regulations came into force on Tuesday January 10 in China to regulate deepfake, these increasingly realistic digital manipulations which present a challenge in the fight against disinformation.
In particular, hyperfaking makes it possible to replace one face in a video with that of another or to falsify the words of a personality with disconcerting realism.
Used by “unscrupulous people”
This technique, which is based on artificial intelligence, is very popular on social networks, where diversions and humorous creations abound.
Deep-faking has "
also been used by unscrupulous people [...] to disseminate illegal information [...] to defame and smear the reputation of others, and to impersonate in order to commit fraud
", points out China Cyberspace Administration.
Hyperfaking presents a "
danger to national security and social stability
" if it is not supervised, said the internet policeman last month.
Regulations now require companies offering deep-faking services in China to obtain the real identities of their users.
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The text also makes compulsory the affixing of a mention on the deepfakes, in order to avoid "
any confusion
" for the public.
China is at the forefront of regulating new technologies, which some see as a potential threat to the stability or power of the Communist Party.
Several Chinese digital giants were forced last year to hand over details of their algorithms to the authorities, an unprecedented step in a context of Beijing taking control of the sector.
Increased intransigence
At the heart of the digital economy, algorithms serve as the brains of many applications and services on the internet and are generally a well-kept secret of the digital giants.
Worried about this opacity, the authorities have sought to further regulate the algorithms.
Since 2020, the government has generally been intransigent vis-à-vis powerful digital companies.
Several heavyweights, including the online commerce champion Alibaba and the number one VTC in China, Didi, have been pinned down in terms of personal data, competition and user rights.