News directors getting nervous about deepfakes

U.S. network broadcaster CBS says its news division will create a deepfake-detection unit. The move is part of a growing realization among TV networks that their raison d’être is under attack.

Faked celebrity porn got a lot of headlines a few years ago, but anyone who studies biometrics has known the real threat for much longer. CBS is sharing very little about its project, including how fraudulent video will be identified by humans or algorithms.

Deepfake detection for biometric customer onboarding systems, rather than news media, is already an area of competition among developers.

According to media-news outlet Deadline, quoting a staff memo from Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News, the anti-deepfake unit is an investment in forensic journalists and “new, state-of-the-art technology,” the most hand-wavy phrase today.

Job ads reportedly will be posted for the initiative, called Confirmed, but there’s no word on how much is being invested.

There have already been some political deepfakes in the United States, so CBS will be followed by other terrestrial and cable news operations. An online deepfake ad attacking Pres. Joe Biden, one that is imprinted with the opposing Republican Party’s logo, is still up on YouTube.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  deepfake detection  |  deepfakes  |  fraud prevention