DICT to find ways to prevent deepfakes during election

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Information and Technology (DICT)’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is currently looking for technology to counter or detect deepfakes.

This was according to CICC director Alexander Ramos Alexander Ramos, who said deepfake is one of the biggest threats, especially in the upcoming elections.

Deepfake is a kind of artificial intelligence that is used to create convincing and manipulated pictures, sounds, and videos mimicking a real person.

Ramos said they are working on deepfakes as they see it as a strong tool used to mislead the public because of its content that is hard to detect whether its real or not.

“Ang preparasyon natin is to find a technology to counter or detect deepfake. Mayroon ganoong mga technologies na inaayos pa ng mga suppliers, okay, bakit? Kasi ang deepfake, saan ho ba ilalabas iyan? Sa ating mga cellphones, sa ating internet, sa ating mga social media platform,” Ramos said.

“So, nandoon tayo, paano madi-detect nitong mga platforms na ito na kung ang content ay hindi original? So, iyan ang ating mga inaabangan na teknolohiya,” he added.

Ramos said they are also working closely with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to find technologies helpful in maintaining the election’s integrity.

“Yes, we have continuous talks because we have to research technologies that could help them govern this coming election,” he said

In Cebu, even the highest Catholic leader, Archbishop Jose Palma, has been a victim of deepfakes when a photo and video circulated on social media showing the church leader allegedly endorsing a medical product. This has since been denied by the Archdiocese of Cebu, which has cautioned the public on such fake advertisements.

DICT is also studying other measures together with other countries to address deepfakes.

“Ang ating ahensiya, specific(ally) CICC, maliban sa nag-aaral kami ngayon together with other countries how to address this, tini-test din namin ang mga technologies kung sufficient na ba o puwede na, or kailangan pa natin ng dagdag na kaalaman para ma-address itong isyung ito,” Ramos said.