Hamburg's Justice Senator is fighting the threat of deep fakes!

Hamburg's Justice Senator is fighting the threat of deep fakes!

In northern Germany, an explosive topic is causing discussions: deep fakes. This technologically generated media content, which is created or modified with artificial intelligence, is increasingly becoming the focus of the public. Hamburg's Justice Senator Anna Gallina (Greens) has taken a clear stance and is announcing measures to combat the growing phenomenon. How NDR reports, Gallina is concerned with combating the spread of manipulated photos and videos.

Deep fakes are not just a technical product. Gallina makes it clear that they pose a serious threat to society. False information through these technologies could damage people's reputations and have a lasting impact on public debate. Women in particular are often the victims of this digital violence, for example when their faces are inserted into pornographic content. This form of sexualized violence is becoming increasingly severe, as a report by Bundestag shows.

Legal actions and suggestions

In order to counteract this, the conference of justice ministers of the federal states plans to address the issue again in Leipzig at the beginning of November. Gallina suggests reforming the art copyright law so that those affected have an easier opportunity to have such content deleted. The introduction of a digital violence protection law could also be a solution to effectively combat these digital forms of violence.

The Federal Council has also presented a draft law that contains specific provisions on privacy protection in the Criminal Code. The draft stipulates that the distribution of manipulated media content that violates a person's personal rights will become a criminal offense. This could be an important step in strengthening the rights of those affected. The threat to the protection of personality is undeniable: Deep fakes allow faces and body parts to be swapped in videos or voices to be imitated, which raises not only legal but also ethical questions.

Challenges and outlook

Deep fakes are not only a fascinating phenomenon in society, they also pose great risks. The development of artificial intelligence is progressing, but legislation is lagging behind. This means that legal regulations are often inadequate. So emphasized Herfurtner law firm that clear regulations are necessary to prevent abuse and clarify responsibilities when creating and disseminating deep fakes.

The legal challenges caused by deep fakes affect numerous areas: data protection, media law, criminal law and copyright. At the political level, people are aware of the urgency. The creation of strict laws to prevent media manipulation is called for. It remains to be seen what specific regulations will emerge from the Conference of Justice Ministers. One thing is certain: Society must deal intensively with this issue because it is about protecting human rights in the digital age.