Reddit Updates Policies To Battle Impersonation And Deepfakes

The epidemic of fake content appears in every corner of our digital world. To cope with this industrial-scale problem, the social media Reddit has recently got ready for a cutthroat battle to fight against impersonation throughout its platform. On Thursday, Reddit announced the coming of updated policies that will put any violating content in a strict execution of being banned, such as taking down accounts with false identities or deepfakes content, especially.

A company’s spokesperson said in a blog that if an individual impersonates a famous journalist or controversial politician, he/she will pose a threat towards other users. The ban, in a word, helps raise people’s awareness indirectly but it could be very useful in most cases. Amidst the upcoming 2020 election, the post appears to ensure a better digital environment with “appropriate rules and processes”.

Obviously, no policy can play a heroic role without the help of supporters. In fact, Reddit calls for the help of its user community to tackle the impersonation. Users are encouraged to report a look-alike impersonation of celebrities or even themselves alongside false content. On the other hand, not all deepfakes are bad, such as satire or parodies. As a result, the company claimed that if they’re not be used maliciously, they won’t be taken down.

According to Reddit, these policies and related technology still have room for development and evaluation, and the team will try the best to safeguard the transparency and integrity of the site as well as the community’s well-being.

Prior to Reddit’s new updates, Facebook also decided to launch a similar plan to curb fake news when banning all deepfakes videos or collaborating with fact-checkers to label ‘false’ content on Instagram.