*HomeU.S. Government Accountability Office*
Menu

      close


          
          
                          	
				
				
	
	
					Reports & Testimonies
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Reports & Testimonies
													
																												
																						
							
																Recommendations Database
							
																												
																						
							
																Month in Review
							
																												
																						
							
																Order Copies
							
																												
																						
							
																Restricted Reports
							
																												
																						
							
																View Topics
							
																												
																						
							
																View Agencies
							
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
													
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests
							
																												
																						
							
																Appropriations Law
							
																												
																						
							
																Federal Vacancies Reform Act
							
																												
																						
							
																Other Legal
							
																												
																						
							
																About
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								About
													
																												
																						
							
																What GAO Does
							
																												
																						
							
																U.S. Comptroller General
							
																												
																						
							
																Careers
							
																												
																						
							
																Contact UsFor Congress
                                
                          
        
                Press Center
                                
                          
        
                Careers
                                
                          
        
                BlogSearch Breadcrumb
        Home
                            Reports & Testimonies
                            Science & Tech Spotlight: Combating Deepfakes
    Science & Tech Spotlight:
                          Combating Deepfakes **GAO-24-107292**
        Published: Mar 11, 2024. Publicly Released: Mar 11, 2024.Jump To:
    Jump ToElder Abuse
          Services for Older Adults
          State and Local-Level Drivers and Trends
          State and Local Fiscal Projections
          Federal Borrowing
          Managing the Debt
          Summary of Funding Provisions
          Auditing the Government's Books
          Unpacking the Financial Report
          Highlights
          Recommendations
          Background
          About This Work
          About This Work
          Trends
          About the Center
          Why It's High Risk
          What Remains To Be Done
          Key Reports
          Newest COVID-Related Reports
          AI Use Cases
          Flood Insurance
          Past Pandemic-Related Reports
          CARES Act Oversight Reports
          All COVID-19 Reports
          Report Suspected Fraud
          Subjects
          How to Get Notified
          Past Reports
          Public Health Threats
          Explore the FY 2022 and 2023 Funds
          Lessons Learned
          Agency Reports
          Recent Reports
          Recommendations
          Supplemental Material
          Full Report
          Additional Data
          View Decision
          Downloads
          Previously Identified Actions
          Related Pages
          Associated Agencies
          Tough Choices and Opportunities Ahead
          Americas Fiscal Future Key Areas
          Retirement Security Key Areas
          Current List
          About The High Risk List
          Area Ratings
          Previous High Risk Products
          Search Federal Vacancies
          Past Federal Vacancies
          Violation Letters
          About the Yellow Book
          Advisory Council
          Related Resources
          Comment Letters
          Related Publications
          Contacts and Resources
          Major Issues Facing the Nation
          Meeting Strategic Challenges
          Additional Resources
          Resources
          GAO Contacts
          Mission Teams
          Operations and Staff Offices
          Organization Chart
          Why a Career at GAO?
          Am I Qualified?
          Company Culture
          Reasonable Accommodations
          Video Gallery
          Paid Internships
          Student Volunteers
          Professional Development Program
          Advancement
          Executive Candidate Program
          Summer Associates
          Externships
          Benefits
          Contacts
                    Fast Facts
              Deepfakes are videos, audio, or images that seem real but have been manipulated with AI. They've been used to try to influence elections and to create non-consensual pornography.
Researchers are developing new ways to detect deepfakes, such as AI models that spot color abnormalities. And authentication methods, like digital watermarks, can help prove that a video or image has been altered.
But simply detecting deepfakes may not be enough to prevent harm. Disinformation can still spread even after deepfakes are identified. And, deepfake creators are finding sophisticated ways to evade detection, so combating them remains a challenge.

a person's hands holding a smartphone that displays a warning message "Warning! Potential Deepfake Technology"
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
  Why This Matters

Malicious use of deepfakes could erode trust in elections, spread disinformation, undermine national security, and empower harassers.

Key Takeaways

Current deepfake detection technologies have limited effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
	Watermarking and other authentication technologies may slow the spread of disinformation but present challenges.
	Identifying deepfakes is not by itself sufficient to prevent abuses. It may not stop the spread of disinformation, even after the media is identified as a deepfake.The Technology

**What is it?**

Deepfakes are videos, audio, or images that have been manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI), often to create, replace, or alter faces or synthesize speech. They can seem authentic to the human eye and ear. They have been maliciously used, for example, to try to influence elections and to create non-consensual pornography. To combat such abuses, technologies can be used to detect deepfakes or enable authentication of genuine media.

**Detection technologies**aim to identify fake media without needing to compare it to the original, unaltered media. These technologies typically use a form of AI known as machine learning. The models are trained on data from known real and fake media. Methods include looking for (1) facial or vocal inconsistencies, (2) evidence of the deepfake generation process, or (3) color abnormalities.

**Authentication technologies**are designed to be embeddedduring the creation of a piece of media. These technologies aim to either prove authenticity or prove that a specific original piece of media has been altered. They include:

**Digital watermarks**can be embedded in a piece of media, which can help detect subsequent deepfakes. One form of watermarking adds pixel or audio patterns that are detectable by a computer but are imperceptible to humans.The patterns disappear in any areas that are modified, enabling the owner to prove that the media is an altered version of the original. Another form of watermarking adds features that cause any deepfake made using the media to look or sound unrealistic.
	**Metadata**—which describe the characteristics of data in a piece of media—can be embedded in a way that is cryptographically secure. Missing or incomplete metadata may indicate that a piece of media has been altered.
	**Blockchain.**Uploading media and metadata to a public blockchain creates a relatively secure version that cannot be altered without the change being obvious to other users. Anyone could then compare a file and its metadata to the blockchain version to prove or disprove authenticity.

**Figure 1. Examples of Deepfake Detection and Authentication**

**How mature is it?**

**Detection technologies.**According to recent studies, existing detection methods and models may not accurately identify deepfakes in real-world scenarios. For example, accuracy may be reduced if lighting conditions, facial expressions, or video or audio quality are different from the data used to train the detection model, or if the deepfake was created using a different method than that used in the training data. Further, future advances in deepfake generation are expected to eliminate hallmarks of current deepfakes, such as abnormal eye blinking.

**Authentication technologies.**These technologies are not new, but their use in combating deepfakes is an emerging area. Several companies offer authentication services, including using digital watermarks, metadata, and blockchain technologies. Some claim to let website visitors authenticate media found on the internet, provided the original is in the company’s database. Prominent social media companies are also beginning to label AI-generated content.

Opportunities

**Combined defenses.**Using multiple detection and authentication methods may help to identify deepfakes.
	**Updated training datasets.**Including diverse and recent media in training data could help detection models keep up with the latest deepfake generation techniques.
	**Competitions.**Deepfake detection competitions could encourage the development of more accurate detection tools and models. One 2019 competition included over 2,000 participants and generated over 35,000 models.Challenges

**Disinformation and public trust.**Disinformation can spread from the moment a deepfake is viewed, even if it is identified as fraudulent. Further, trust in real media may be undermined by false claims that real media is a deepfake or if people do not trust a detection model’s results.
	**Adaptation to detection.**Techniques and models used to identify deepfakes tend to lead developers to create more sophisticated deepfake generation techniques.Policy Context and Questions

Are current laws and regulations adequate to address evolving concerns about the malicious use of deepfakes? How do they address data security, privacy concerns, and First Amendment considerations, such as a deepfake creator’s freedom of speech and expression?
	What entities (e.g., government, nonprofit, private company) should make decisions about identifying and blocking deepfakes, or about when and how to sanction those who produce or disseminate them?
	How can organizations across society coordinate on the development and improvement of deepfake detection and authentication technologies? What standards could be used or developed to evaluate these technologies?Selected GAO Work

Science & Tech Spotlight: Deepfakes, GAO-20-379SP

Technology Assessment: Blockchain, GAO-22-104625

Selected References

Gourav Gupta, Kiran Raja, Manish Gupta, Tony Jan, Scott Thompson Whiteside, and Mukesh Prasad, “A Comprehensive Review of DeepFake Detection Using Advanced Machine Learning and Fusion Methods,”*Electronics*, vol. 13, no. 95 (2024) https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13010095.

National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,*Contextualizing Deepfake Threats to Organizations*, Sept. 2023.

For more information, contact Brian Bothwell at (202) 512-6888 or bothwellb@gao.gov.

Full Report
    Full Report (2 pages)
              Accessible PDF (2 pages)
GAO Contacts
    
      Brian Bothwell
            
            Director
      
            bothwellb@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-6888
Office of Public Affairs
    
      Chuck Young
            
            Managing Director
      
            youngc1@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-4800
Topics
    
      Information ManagementArtificial intelligenceAuthenticationCybersecurityElectionsElectronicsInformation securityNational securityScience and technologyScience and technology issuesTechnology assessment
                                                      MultimediaPodcasts
    
      Combating Deepfakes
    Monday, March 11, 2024
      
            Transcript
 Receive GAO Updates
  Stay informed as we add new reports & testimonies.

    GAO Logo
      U.S. Government Accountability Office


                                   Column 1
                            Press Center
                              Contact Us
                              Inspector General
                              Restricted Reports
                              Column 2
                            Copyright & Terms of Use
                              Privacy Policy
                              Accessibility
                              Sitemap
                              Column 3
                            FOIA Requests
                              Scam Alerts
                              No FEAR Act Data
                              Health Care Advisory Committees