90-day ban on deepfake political ads passes parliamentary special committee

Lawmakers attend a meeting of the parliamentary special committee on political reform at the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 5. Yonhap

A revision to the Public Official Election Act calling for a ban on political campaign videos using AI-generated deepfakes during the election season passed through a special parliamentary committee Tuesday.

Under the revision, individuals could face a maximum seven years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won ($38,100) if they distribute or show political campaign videos created with deepfake technology during the 90 days prior to an election.

Creators are also mandated to notify viewers that synthetic information is present in the deepfake videos, even if they post it before the 90-day window, the revision also states.

If the law passes parliament, it will take effect Jan. 11, 2024, before the general elections take place in April.

The move is in line with a global trend to regulate political ads using deepfake technology amid concerns such content could mislead and confuse voters on a mass scale.

Big tech companies, such as Google and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, have updated their policies requiring users to add a disclaimer for deepfake generated political ads. The U.S. Federal Election Commission has also begun procedures to regulate such campaign videos before the 2024 elections, according to reports.

Political ads using fake audio and images are not new in Korea.

In the 2022 presidential elections, then candidate President Yoon Suk Yeol and his rival Lee Jae-myung, the current main opposition leader, both had an AI-generated replica of themselves appear in their campaign videos. (Yonhap)