Meta vows to curtail false content, deepfakes ahead of Australia election

Sydney: Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta Platforms said on Tuesday its independent fact-checking program in Australia would help detect and remove false content and deepfakes, as it aims to curb misinformation ahead of a national election due by May.

In a blog post, the social media company said any content that could lead to imminent violence and physical harm, and interfere with voting would be removed, while the distribution of misleading content through its platforms would be curtailed.

"When content is debunked by fact-checkers, we attach warning labels to the content and reduce its distribution in Feed and Explore so it is less likely to be seen," said Cheryl Seeto, Meta's Head of Policy in Australia.

News agencies Agence France-Presse and the Australian Associated Press will review the content for Meta, Seeto said.

Meta scrapped its U.S. fact-checking programs in January and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to pressure from conservatives to implement the biggest overhaul of its approach to managing political content on its services.

Besides fake content, social media companies are also fighting to contain deepfakes - hyper-realistic videos, photographs or audio generated through AI algorithms that are presented as real.

Meta said any deepfake content that violates its policies would be removed, or rated "altered" and then ranked down in its feed to limit its distribution. Users will also be prompted to disclose when they post or share AI-generated content.

"For content that doesn't violate our policies, we still believe it's important for people to know when photorealistic content they're seeing has been created using AI," Seeto said.

Opinion polls show a close-run election in Australia with the opposition Liberal-National coalition ahead of the ruling centre-left Labor party by a narrow margin.

Meta's approach in Australia is consistent with its efforts to prevent misinformation during the recent elections in India, Britain and the United States, Seeto said.

Meta is facing multiple regulatory headwinds in Australia with the government planning to impose a levy on big tech firms to compensate for advertising revenue they generate from sharing local news content.

Meta and other social media firms must also enforce a ban for users under 16 by the end of this year with the companies consulting the government on how they should roll the restrictions.