Meta Platforms announced on Wednesday that starting in 2024, advertisers will be required to disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital technologies in shaping or generating political, social, or election-related advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.
In a blog post, the company, which ranks as the second-largest platform for digital advertising, stated that advertisers must reveal if their modified or generated ads depict real individuals as performing actions or making statements they did not, or if they produce a realistic portrayal of a non-existent person.
Additionally, Meta will require advertisers to inform users if their ads showcase events that never occurred, manipulate footage from genuine events, or represent real incidents without authentic images, videos, or audio recordings of those events.
This policy update follows an announcement from Meta regarding a ban on the utilization of generative AI tools by political advertisers. This came just a month after the company began expanding access to AI-driven advertising tools that can quickly generate backgrounds, alter images, and modify ad copy based on simple text prompts.
Last week, Alphabet’s Google, the leading digital advertising firm, unveiled similar generative AI ad tools for image customization. Google plans to maintain a distance from political content by prohibiting the use of “political keywords” in prompts.
U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns over AI’s role in creating misleading content that could misrepresent political candidates and sway federal elections. The emergence of various generative AI tools has made it increasingly easy and inexpensive to produce convincing deepfakes.
Meta has already implemented restrictions on its user-facing AI virtual assistant to prevent it from generating photo-realistic images of public figures. Additionally, the company’s top policy executive, Nick Clegg, indicated last month that the use of generative AI in political advertising is an area in need of regulatory updates.
Under the new policy, no disclosures will be necessary when the digital content is deemed “inconsequential or immaterial to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad.” This includes modifications such as image resizing, cropping, color correction, or sharpening.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
