The flood of Deepfake videos generated by AI is causing concern as they are targeting disproportionately women with explicit AI images and videos spreading online, particularly on platforms such as YouTube. In a bid to address this problem, YouTube has now implemented a way for users to lodge a complaint if they believe they’ve been deepfaked, in order to have the video removed.
YouTube’s policy allows those who believe they have been misrepresented through the use of AI to request the manipulated content be removed. The caveat is that the content must clearly depict a realistic, altered version of the complainant’s likeness. Follow the steps below to report content:
1. Go to YouTube’s Help Centre at support.google.com/youtube.
2. Click on “Policy, Safety and Copyright” under which a drop-down list will appear.
3. Select “Privacy and Safety Centre” to be directed to a new page.
4. In the new page, click on “Protecting Your Identity”.
5. Scroll down to the phrase written in bold: “Report AI-generated or other synthetic content that looks or sounds like you.” Below this sentence, click on “Privacy Complaint Process” to be sent to another page.
6. Click on the following successive options: “Continue” > “I still want to submit a privacy complaint” > “Continue” > “I have reviewed the Community Guidelines” > “Continue”. Finally, select one of the given three options: a) Report use of your image or name b) Report use of other personal info c) Report altered or synthetic content.
After choosing one of these options, you will need to complete an application form and click “Submit”.
Whilst YouTube’s current position on Deepfakes is reactionary, there’s no explicit ban on the distribution and circulation of such content. Their Misinformation policy prohibiting deceptive content with serious harm risks is hoped to protect users who might have been violated. While Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company and owner of Google, continues adopting AI features like Gemini, it’s unclear how this will affect YouTube’s policy concerning Deepfakes.
