Snapchat And TikTok Users Could Fall Prey To 'Deepfake'

While several social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or Reddit have recently declared a slew of new rules to get rid of misinformation and its consequences, TikTok and Snapchat are on the other side. Both companies are reportedly digging in “deepfake” technology, which is considered an unprecedented move ahead of the 2020 election in the US.

Last week, Snapchat acquired a computer-vision startup called AI Factory to work on its new Cameos feature, which basically relies on “deepfake” technology. Given that the massive user base of Snapchat has exceeded 200 million, this feature could be a nightmare if people misuse it and the company fails to handle its controversial creation. Note that the company previously launched an AI-driven feature in 2016, dubbed "face-swapping camera lens".

Like Snapchat, TikTok seems to adopt this controversial technology as it started building a deepfake-maker to 'satisfy' users. In particular, this tool will swap users’ faces in their videos to create a deepfake-enabled one, and all they need to do is to scan their faces from multiple angles. The video will then be labeled with a watermark, but the tool still comes under fire because of concerns over people’s privacy.

Until now, it remains unclear whether such moves could better user experience or just be a trashy, dangerous tool that could violate their privacy and the truths. “Deepfake” videos, in a word, potentially make people believe something that never actually happened. As such, many people could be driven for political manipulation, resulting in voters with false information. Called as an “emerging threat,” such videos have drawn flaks from both people and lawmakers. In fact, there's even a porn site named Mr Deepfake that streams tons of deepfake-generated videos based on celebrities' identities.