Lok Sabha Polls: Meta Directs Advertisers To Disclose AI Usage In Ads

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, Meta, is gearing up for the upcoming General Elections in its unique style- by developing a thorough plan to combat disinformation, increase transparency and stop voter meddling.

Meta plans to turn on an Elections Operations Centre in time for the election to quickly detect and handle any risks that may arise.

"Instituted this year, we also mandate advertisers globally to disclose the use of AI or digital methods to create or alter political or social issue ads under certain circumstances. This requirement applies if the advertisement features a photorealistic image or video, or realistic-sounding audio, digitally manipulated to depict a real person engaging in actions they did not undertake or say," the company states in a blog on Tuesday. 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) issued a warning about the spread of deepfakes created by artificial intelligence (AI), which is what prompted this move. The statement is a concerted response by internet titans to risks generated by AI, ahead of the Indian General Elections. It closely follows Google's actions on funding and ID last week.

Social media behemoths have frequently been charged with permitting manipulative or deceptive political advertisements that use deepfake audio and video to spread false narratives on their networks. Political analysts claim that these deceptive advertisements could affect the results of the elections.

Disclosure Of Funding Details A Must

Additionally, a 'paid for by' disclaimer and an authorization process are also required of advertisers, and all pertinent data is kept in the Ad Library, which is accessible to the public, for a period of seven years.

With a workforce of more than 40,000 people worldwide committed to security and safety, Meta has reportedly invested more than $20 billion since 2016.

In addition, Meta is initiating consumer education programmes to enable consumers to identify and effectively refute false information. Initiatives like the 'Know What's Real' campaign provide users tools to report questionable content in addition to educating them on how to spot and correct misinformation on WhatsApp and Instagram.

In partnership with the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), Meta has introduced a WhatsApp helpline to combat AI-generated misinformation, particularly deep fakes. Additionally, measures to restrict message forwarding on WhatsApp aim to diminish the spread of misinformation.