US Congress pulls up Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, different massive tech cos, calls for motion on deepfakes – Firstpost

The US Congress has stepped up strain on main tech firms, together with Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and others, to handle the rising drawback of deepfake non-consensual intimate pictures. Letters had been despatched to prime executives, comparable to Apple’s Tim Cook dinner, highlighting considerations over the proliferation of those dangerous pictures facilitated by dual-use apps.

These letters comply with experiences of apps enabling customers to swap faces into nude or pornographic content material, which had been actively promoted on social media platforms. In line with 404 Media, Congress is now asking these tech giants to clarify how they plan to cease such content material from being created and distributed on their platforms.

Apple within the highlight

Apple’s App Retailer insurance policies had been straight known as out in Congress’s letter to Tim Cook dinner. Regardless of the firm’s App Assessment Pointers, some apps with the potential for misuse have slipped by means of the cracks. The letter questions Apple’s capacity to implement its personal requirements and cites the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a legislative effort geared toward combating non-consensual intimate pictures.

Congress requested Apple particular questions on its plans to handle deepfake pornography, together with:

• How Apple plans to deal with the unfold of deepfakes and the timeline for implementing these measures.

• Who’s concerned in growing these methods.

• The method for dealing with consumer experiences and guaranteeing well timed resolutions.

• Standards for eradicating problematic apps from the App Retailer.

• Treatments for victims whose pictures have been misused.

These questions underline the rising demand for accountability from Apple, given its management over the App Retailer. Critics argue that because the gatekeeper, Apple bears accountability when dangerous apps handle to bypass its safeguards.

Earlier experiences revealed apps that had been used to generate non-consensual deepfake pictures, together with some that sourced movies from grownup content material platforms like Pornhub for face-swapping functions. Whereas Apple eliminated these apps from the shop, the incidents uncovered obtrusive weaknesses in its evaluate course of.

Apple has taken some steps to curb the misuse of its platform, comparable to blocking “Register with Apple” on deepfake web sites and guaranteeing its AI instruments can’t generate express content material. Nevertheless, these measures are seen because the naked minimal, with critics calling for stricter oversight and higher safeguards towards dual-use apps.

Congress pushes for stricter controls

The letter to Apple, together with comparable ones to different tech firms, emphasises the necessity for heightened precautions, significantly for apps providing AI-based picture and video manipulation. Congress has urged tech firms to make sure such instruments endure rigorous scrutiny throughout evaluate to stop misuse.

This scrutiny displays a broader debate concerning the function of gatekeepers like Apple. Whereas the corporate’s management over its app ecosystem has been some extent of competition, situations like these bolster the argument for stricter oversight of platforms that allow dangerous behaviour. With public and legislative strain mounting, Apple and different tech giants face a vital problem in curbing the misuse of deepfake know-how.