There Denmark it could soon become the first country in the world a prohibit the publication of deepfake content who portray real people without their explicit consent. It is a decisive response to a rapidly growing phenomenon, which has already caused concrete damage to the reputation of public and private citizens.
THE deepfakethat is, video and audio generated byartificial intelligence Which imitate faces and voices in an extremely realistic way, they are becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread. From false scandals who have affected celebrities such as Taylor Swift, up to cheap scams With counterfeit voices of corporate managers, the border between reality and digital manipulation becomes more labile every day.
In this scenario, the Danish government has announced a bill that aims to adjust the use of deepfakesby introducing a clear rule: they cannot be created or disseminated manipulated content with IA without the permit of the people involved. According to the Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidtthe priority is “to protect democracy” and prevent someone from being attributed to someone statements never madewith possible disastrous consequences on the political, social or personal level.
Foreign Minister was deceived by a DeepFake video call
The current Danish legislation, such as that of most countries, is still based on traditional concepts of copyright and image protectionwhich are no longer adequate in the face of the new AI challenges. The new rule, however, would recognize the individual right to one’s digital identityincluding voice, face and biometric characteristics.
The risk is far from theoretical. An episode that shook Danish politics took place last year, when Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was deceived by a DeepFake video call with a fake representative of the African Union.
The identity had been artfully reconstructed by Russian scammers, demonstrating how easy it is manipulate the context and also deceive the institutional leaders. In response to such threats, in 2024 the Danish political parties have already signed an agreement for limit the use of the AI in electoral communicationsallowing it only if transparent and with the consent of the interested parties.
If approved, this law would represent a precedent important globallyopening the road to one new awareness on the risks of artificial intelligence and the need for a balance between innovation and fundamental rights.
