Denmark moves to copyright identity to protect citizens from AI deepfakes

Denmark is taking what experts call one of the most extensive and pioneering legislative steps in Europe to protect ordinary Danes, as well as performers and artists who might have their voice shared without their consent.

The increasing number of deepfakes has led the government to implement strict rules.

The highly realistic images, videos, and audio of real people that are generated by artificial intelligence (AI) have become so common that they are indistinguishable from real content.

The surge of generative AI tools including video generation tools from OpenAI and Google has allowed users to generate video according to their choice.

Danish video game live-streamer Marie Watson received a deepfake image of herself from an unknown Instagram account back in 2021; the image showed her snaps completely transformed to make her appear revealing.

Pivotal steps to mitigate sharing of deepfakes to enhance user privacy

Following the incident, Denmark proposed legislation to protect ordinary Danes, as well as performers who might have their appearance or voice shared without their permission.

For that purpose, a bill was expected to pass to change copyright law by prohibiting the sharing of deepfakes to protect citizens’ personal traits such as voice and appearance without seeking approval.

Countries’ contributions to combat sharing illegal content

The country has taken significant steps to mitigate the increasing rise of deepfakes.

US President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation in May that makes it illegal to publish intimate images without a person’s consent.

South Korea last year implemented measures to curb deepfakes and rolled out regulations for social media platforms.

The law would apply in Denmark, involving fines for social media users; big tech firms that fail to remove deepfakes could face severe fines.

Denmark’s efforts to protect citizen rights in a novel strategy

Denmark’s efforts to safeguard citizens’ rights from AI deepfakes are pursuing an ambitious strategy of establishing control over one's own identity.

It aims to provide a robust mechanism to empower citizens for content control.

Additionally, it is working to position itself as a leader in the global AI market.