China brings in strict rules to end fake news

BEIJING/SHANGHAI:CHINESE regulators have announced new rules governing video and audio content online, including a ban on the publishing and distribution of “fake news” created with technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Any use of AI or virtual reality also needs to be clearly marked in a prominent manner and failure to follow the rules could be considered a criminal offence, the Cyberspace Administration of

China (CAC) said on its website.

The rules, effective from January 1, 2020, were published publicly on its website on Friday after being issued to online video and audio service providers last week.

The CAC highlighted potential problems caused by deepfake technology, which uses AI to create hyper-realistic videos where a person appears to say or do something they did not.

Deepfakes could “endanger national security,” according to a transcript of a briefing published on the CAC’S website.