Rep. Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela Women’s Party presented in Congress on September 20 the alarming internet posts containing “deepfakes” or manipulated photos of young women who are members of the popular group Bini and G22. She called for an investigation to hold perpetrators accountable and protect victims against what she called “AI-enabled” violence.

She delivered the recommendation at the budget hearing for the Department of Information and Communications Technology. She asked the representative of the department if it is aware of the “deepfake” cases and if it has taken any steps to curb the circulation of malicious and dangerous fake photos and videos not only of famous personalities, but also of ordinary citizens.

“The rise of deepfake technology poses a significant threat not just to these P-Pop girl groups or celebrities but to our society as a whole,” Brosas said. The government should take proactive measures to address this emerging and alarming challenge.

Cases of online violence against women shared within Telegram, chat groups and other social media platforms, highlight the pervasive threats young women face, Gabriela said. “The emergence of mobile applications capable of generating hyper-realistic simulations from real photos poses severe threats to privacy and safety,” the group said.

Those who create deepfakes or manipulated images, videos or audio (voice) use artificial intelligence or AI to deceive. Often, it is used to make it appear that an individual did or said something that he or she did not actually do or say.

The DICT budget sponsor representative said the department is still in the process of purchasing equipment to detect deepfake photos and videos. He said the budget allocated for the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center of the DICT, the agency dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators in such cases, is also very low.