Singapore tables Bill to combat ‘deepfakes’ during elections, covers both AI and Photoshop manipulations

SINGAPORE, Sept 9 — Singapore government today tabled a Bill that would outlaw “deepfakes” during elections, covering all online content that realistically portray a candidate saying or doing something they did not.

Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported that the Bill was tabled in its Parliament by Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam earlier today.

“Misinformation created by AI-generated content and deepfakes are a salient threat to our electoral integrity,” said a spokesman for the ministry.

“We see this new Bill not as a replacement for Pofma, but rather as a means to augment and sharpen our regulations under the online election advertising regime, to shore up the integrity of our electoral process,” it added, referring to the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

ST reported that the Bill would cover all digitally-manipulated content, either generated using artificial intelligence (AI), or image manipulating software such as Adobe Photoshop.

The report said that with the Bill, a candidate can ask the returning officer to review such a content, and the latter can issue corrective directions to those who publish prohibited online election advertising content.

This would include taking down the offending content, or restricting access to such content from Singaporean voters during the election period.

Offenders can be fined up to S$1,000 (RM3,300), jailed for up to a year, or both. Social media services can also be fined up to S$1 million if they do not comply.

This comes as Singapore must hold its general elections by November next year.