Singapore just recently approved a law to address deepfakes and digitally altered content of candidates during elections.
The Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill, put forward by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), bans the sharing of digitally altered content during elections showing a candidate doing or saying something they didn’t do or say.
The purpose of the law is to maintain the honesty of the voting process and stop the dissemination of false information.
This will only apply to online election advertising that depicts people who are running as candidates.
It will take effect once the writ of election is issued and until the close of polling, and will only apply if four conditions are fulfilled:
- The content is online election advertising, where its intent is to promote, procure or prejudice the electoral prospects of a party or candidate.
- The content is digitally generated or manipulated.
- The content depicts a candidate saying or doing something that he or she did not say or do.
- The content is realistic enough that some members of the public who see or hear the content would reasonably believe that the candidate did in fact say or do that thing.
Breaking these terms is considered a crime, including putting out, distributing, and reposting that material.
However, the law does not cover slight changes like beauty filters and unrealistic entertainment content. The law considers the content’s nature, whether it is in favour or against a candidate, to be irrelevant.
Josephine Teo, the Minister for Digital Development and Information, highlighted that posting forbidden content, as well as sharing and reposting it, will be deemed illegal during the election period.
The enactment of this law is important with the increase of deepfake incidents globally around election times. These occurrences have involved altering voices and spreading fake news, which could jeopardize the legitimacy of elections and democracy in general. Minister Teo stressed the seriousness of the law in addressing AI-generated misinformation that threatens democratic principles.
While discussing in parliament, MPs voiced worries regarding the definitions, enforcement, and prevalence of deepfakes on private messaging platforms. Their inquiries also raised concerns about the possibility of political overstepping and unjust accusations of bias in implementation.
In reply, Minister Teo explained that the purpose of the law is not to monitor private or domestic conversations but will be implemented considering factors like the number of people who can view the content and the type of relationships within the communication platforms.
