The U.S. Senate on Oct. 25 passed bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) that would help deter deepfakes, which are hyper-realistic, digital manipulations of real content that depict events that did not actually occur.
“As AI rapidly becomes an intrinsic part of our economy and society, AI-based threats, such as deepfakes, have become an increasing threat to our democracy,” said Sen. Portman, co-chair and co-founder of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus. “As concerns with deepfakes grow by the day, I applaud my Senate colleagues for passing this bipartisan legislation and hope the House will take it up soon.”
Sen. Portman in July unveiled the Deepfake Report Act of 2019, S. 2065, with cosponsors including U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Brian Schatz (D-HI). The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess the technology used to generate deepfakes and their uses by foreign and domestic entities, the available countermeasures to deepfakes, and to inform policymakers and the public about the threats deepfakes pose to U.S. national security and election security.
If enacted, S. 2065 would direct DHS to annually issue its report on deepfake technology, according to the bill’s text.
“Addressing the challenges posed by deepfakes will require policymakers to grapple with important questions related to civil liberties and privacy,” Sen. Portman said. “This bill prepares our country to answer those questions and address concerns by ensuring we have a sound understanding of this issue.”
The U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 28 received S. 2065 and the same day referred it for consideration to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is reviewing the same-named companion bill, H.R. 3600.