Govts, people must join hands to fight deepfakes: Panellists

They need to share and learn from one another; technology not the silver bullet

- Sarah Koh

Technology that tracks where and how content is generated is crucial in the global fight against deepfakes, but governments and people also need to share and learn from one another to battle the problem, panellists at a global tech event in Singapore said on May 31.

Some of the innovations to combat deepfakes include a digital signature system in Sony cameras, which gives photographers proof of authenticity for their work, as well as metadata attached to a piece of content that tells users if it has been tampered with after creation.

Sony's digital signature system certifies the authenticity of an image at the point of capture. A "digital birth certificate" is created and retained throughout rounds of edits. It also gives information on whether the image captured is that of a three-dimensional object, or if it is a photo of an image or video.

This allows journalists to prove that photos they took are genuine, rather than a photo of a photo.

"The issue of deepfake is one of the most serious issues we need to tackle, in terms of principles, conduct and technology," Sony Group's chief technology officer Hiroaki Kitano said during a panel discussion about fighting deepfakes at the Asia Tech x Singapore summit held at Capella Singapore.