Meta Demands Disclosure of AI Use in Political Ads

Meta, the corporate parent of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, has recently announced a new policy requiring political advertisers to reveal any usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in their advertisements. This requirement is part of a broader initiative to curb the spread of misleading content, specifically “deepfakes,” and will be implemented next year. This move is particularly significant considering the approaching 2024 US elections and other global electoral events.

The new policy will apply to any political or societal issue advertisement on Facebook or Instagram that employs digital tools to fabricate images of non-existent people, distort the reality of an event, or falsely depict a person saying or doing something they did not. However, minor AI applications such as image cropping or color correction that do not significantly affect the ad’s message won’t be subject to this disclosure rule.

This decision comes on the heels of Meta’s announcement to limit political advertisers from using the company’s own AI advertising tools. These AI tools include an AI images generator and an AI text generator, which can create backgrounds, suggest promotional text, or provide accompanying music for videos.

In a similar vein, Microsoft has also launched a tool that adds a “watermark” to campaign content, ensuring its authenticity. This tool will be offered free to political campaigns starting next spring. Microsoft President Brad Smith explained in a blog post that these watermarks would create a permanent record of the content’s history and context.

The latest AI news reveals a growing concern about the potential risks AI-generated content poses to democracy. Policymakers and civil society groups have warned about the potential supercharging of disinformation by foreign and domestic actors using AI. This threat could be amplified by recent industry-wide reductions in content moderation teams.

Meta’s decision to regulate political speech is relatively uncommon. The platform has been criticized for its lax approach towards false claims in politicians’ campaign ads and for exempting politicians’ speech from third-party fact-checking. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously argued that politicians should be allowed to make false claims and that it is up to the audience and voters to hold them accountable.

However, the decision to mandate political advertisers to disclose their use of AI, and to limit Meta’s own AI tools from being used in political ads, suggests a shift in Zuckerberg’s stance. The use of artificial intelligence generated images and AI video generator tools in political ads may now face stricter regulations.

Meta has warned that any advertiser failing to disclose as required will have their ad rejected, and repeated non-compliance could result in penalties. This move underscores the importance of transparency in the use of AI tools in political advertising. It’s a significant step towards ensuring that the latest AI tools are used responsibly in our increasingly digital world.