Can we protect society from the deepfake menace?

Deepfakes can be used for a wide variety of purposes, with wide-ranging impacts. They can be put to good use in media production, human-machine interactions, video conferencing, satire, creativity and some novel medical applications such as voice creation. However, they also have substantial potential for misuse. Risks can be psychological, financial and societal. There is also a strong gender discrimination as the vast majority of malicious deepfakes target women, depicting them in non-consensual fake pornographic videos. The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) commissioned a study setting out the key features of deepfake technologies, their technical, societal and regulatory context, and their impacts at individual, group and societal levels. The report also sets out a range of policy options targeting legislative files that are currently under debate at the European Parliament. Th