Ben Madilynn
DEEP fakes may be used to manipulate and deceive the public, especially in the upcoming 2025 midterm elections, prompting the Cebu City Council to urge the Department of Information and Technology (DICT) to prevent its proliferation.
The council, through a resolution sponsored by City Councilor Rey Gealon, urged the DICT to prevent the spread of deep fakes, as they can be used to manipulate and deceive the public.
“…they (deep fakes) can be used to manipulate and deceive the public by creating false and misleading information that can severely undermine the integrity of the democratic process and shake the public’s trust in the election outcome,” reads a portion of the resolution.
Gealon’s resolution defines deep fake as a kind of artificial intelligence that is used to create convincing and manipulated pictures, sounds and videos mimicking a real person.
Gealon raised his concern over the matter following a deep fake video and photo of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma that circulated online, which falsely depicted him endorsing a medical product.
Gealon said that with the ongoing filing of the certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 2025 elections, deep fakes can be a “dangerously powerful tool” to create false and misleading information.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has included the creation and dissemination of deep fakes among the prohibited acts for election campaigns.
The Comelec, based on its resolution, will issue a show cause order to the perpetrator, candidate, political party or coalition, party-list organization and their respective social media campaign managers if they are found to have used deep fakes.
The Comelec has formed a task force to detect and monitor the use of deep fakes and other prohibited campaign activities.
The country will have its national and local midterm elections on May 12, 2025.
Filing of COCs, which started last Oct. 1, is ongoing and will end on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Senatorial candidates and party-list groups will have 90 days to campaign, starting Feb. 11 until May 10, while candidates for House of Representatives and provincial, city and municipal candidates will have 45 days, beginning March 28 until May 10. / JJL
