Facebook and Instagram will require political ads running on their platforms to disclose if they were created using artificial intelligence, their parent company announced on Wednesday.
Under the new policy by Meta, labels acknowledging the use of AI will appear on users’ screens when they click on ads. The rule takes effect Jan. 1 and will be applied worldwide.
The development of new AI programs has made it easier than ever to quickly generate lifelike audio, images and video. In the wrong hands, the technology could be used to create fake videos of a candidate or frightening images of election fraud or polling place violence. When strapped to the powerful algorithms of social media, these fakes could mislead and confuse voters on a scale never seen.
Meta Platforms Inc. and other tech platforms have been criticized for not doing more to address this risk. Wednesday’s announcement — which comes on the day House lawmakers hold a hearing on deepfakes — isn’t likely to assuage those concerns.
While officials in Europe are working on comprehensive regulations for the use of AI, time is running out for lawmakers in the United States to pass regulations ahead of the 2024 election.
Earlier this year, the Federal Election Commission began a process to potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads before the 2024 election. President Joe Biden’s administration last week issued an executive order intended to encourage responsible development of AI. Among other provisions, it will require AI developers to provide safety data and other information about their programs with the government.
The U.S. isn’t the only nation holding a high-profile vote next year: National elections are also scheduled in countries including Mexico, South Africa, Ukraine, Taiwan and Pakistan.
AI-generated political ads have already made an appearance in the U.S. In April, the Republican National Committee released an entirely AI-generated ad meant to show the future of the United States if Biden, a Democrat, is reelected. It employed fake but realistic photos showing boarded-up storefronts, armoured military patrols in the streets, and waves of immigrants creating panic. The ad was labelled to inform viewers that AI was used.
In June, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign shared an attack ad against his GOP primary opponent Donald Trump that used AI-generated images of the former president hugging infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“It’s gotten to be a very difficult job for the casual observer to figure out: What do I believe here?” said Vince Lynch, an AI developer and CEO of the AI company IV.AI. Lynch said some combination of federal regulation and voluntary policies by tech companies is needed to protect the public. “The companies need to take responsibility,” Lynch said.
Meta’s new policy will cover any advertisement for a social issue, election or political candidate that includes a realistic image of a person or event that has been altered using AI. More modest use of the technology — to resize or sharpen an image, for instance, would be allowed with no disclosure.
Besides labels informing a viewer when an ad contains AI-generated imagery, information about the ad’s use of AI will be included in Facebook’s online ad library. Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, California, says content that violates the rule will be removed.
Google announced a similar AI labelling policy for political ads in September. Under that rule, political ads that play on YouTube or other Google platforms will have to disclose the use of AI-altered voices or imagery.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
