--- title: "Congress Is Officially Freaking Out About Deepfakes" description: "Congress is worried that deepfakes, computer-generated fake videos, could undermine and severely disrupt the 2020 presidential campaign." date: "2019-06-13" modified: "2019-06-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/congress-deepfakes-threat" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "congress" - "deepfakes" - "presidential candidate" --- # Congress Is Officially Freaking Out About Deepfakes ![Congress is worried that deepfakes, computer-generated fake videos, could undermine and severely disrupt the 2020 presidential campaign.]() *\Image: Gage Skidmore/Victor Tangermann\* ## Deepfake State Congress is worried that [deepfakes](), or computer-generated videos that depict people saying or doing things that never happened, could severely disrupt the 2020 presidential campaign, the [*Washington Post* reports](). The House Intelligence Committee has [scheduled a hearing]() today to discuss the problem with AI experts. But many other experts in the field are worried that the U.S. is not ready for a deepfake invasion. "We are outgunned," Hany Farid, computer-science professor at the University of California at Berkeley, told the *Post*. "The number of people working on the video-synthesis side, as opposed to the detector side, is 100 to 1." While they have made some progress trying to come up with simple tools that could spot a deepfake and separate them from the real thing, they still have a long way to go. And the prognosis is grim: a [report by *Axios*]() found that not a single 2020 presidential campaign candidate can point to measures they’ve taken to prevent the spread of this potentially-dangerous media. ## Outgunned The news comes after the spread of a video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that had been [tampered with]() to make her appear drunk. Earlier this month, the video [mysteriously disappeared]() from Facebook. Adam Schiff (D-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, [said Thursday](), "I don’t think we’re well prepared at all. And I don’t think the public is aware of what’s coming. There’s no end to the pernicious abuse of this technology." So far, the federal government has not passed any laws or legal framework that tries to reign in the spread of deepfakes. But as with many other political issues in the U.S., fears of government overreach and the perceived threat to the First Amendment might slow down efforts to make deepfakes illegal. **READ MORE:** [Top AI researchers race to detect ‘deepfake’ videos: ‘We are outgunned’]() \[*The Washington Post*\] **More on deepfakes:** *[Report: 2020 Candidates Are Going to Get Owned by Deepfakes]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()