Google is enhancing its policy to combat election disinformation by imposing mandatory requirements on advertisers to disclose whether election advertisements have been digitally altered.
In a blog post on Monday, the United States tech giant announced changes to its disclosure requirements under its political content policy. According to the new rules, advertisers must select “Altered or Synthetic Content” in their campaign settings when publishing election advertisements that falsely depict real or realistic people or events manipulated, modified, or otherwise altered using digital means.
Once marketers select the checkbox, Google will generate in-ad disclaimers to help users discern the authenticity of a given advertisement. This policy will apply across various formats including feeds (streams of content accessible through online scrolling) and shorts on moblie phones. In addition, it will be adopted in in-stream ads on moblie phones, computers and televisions. In-stream advertisements play before, during, or after other online videos or content, regardless of whether they appear on standard websites or streaming platforms.
Besides these formats, advertisers must personally provide detailed statements like “This audio was computer-generated,” “This image does not depict real events,” or “This video content was synthetically generated.” Google emphasized that the language used may vary depending on the context of the advertisement. However, the disclosure must be clear, conspicuous, and positioned in a location that ensures high visibility to viewers.
These changes come amidst growing concerns about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence technology to spread disinformation ahead of the upcoming U.S. election, scheduled for November.
During a hearing on foreign threats to this year’s elections held last May, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines highlighted the threat posed by emerging technologies to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She referenced an AI-manipulated fake audio recording released online just two days before Slovakia’s parliamentary election in September last year. Additionally, in a report issued last April, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center warned of a Chinese influence campaign aiming to influence the U.S. election through the use of AI technologies.
- Notification: This article was updated on July 4, 2024, at 12:07am (GMT+9) for clarity.
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