Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has observed that threat actors are using AI to create fake images, videos and text in an attempt to influence users of the site.
 "Meta removes Chinese and Israeli accounts promoting supposedly AI-generated content")
Bloomberg
Aisha Counts
Meta Platforms has removed hundreds of Facebook accounts linked to covert influence operations from countries including China, Israel, Iran and Russia, some of which used artificial intelligence tools to generate disinformation, according to the company's quarterly threat report.
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has seen threat actors use AI to create fake images, videos and text to influence users on its sites, but the use of generative AI has not impacted their ability to disrupt its network, Meta said in a report on Wednesday.
Among the disinformation campaigns, the company found a Chinese deception network sharing fictitious AI-generated pro-Sikh protest poster images, as well as an Israeli-based network posting AI-generated comments praising the Israeli military under the pages of media organizations and public figures.The company said it removed many of these networks before they could garner followers in real communities.
“Right now, we're not seeing AI being used in a very sophisticated way,” David Agranovich, Meta's policy director for threat prevention, said at a press conference on Tuesday. Tactics such as creating AI-generated profile photos or using artificial intelligence to create large amounts of spam content have so far been ineffective, he said.
Social media companies including Facebook, ByteDance's TikTok and Elon Musk's X have struggled with an influx of fake and misleading AI-generated content on their sites. This year alone, doctored audio of U.S. President Joe Biden and fake images of the conflict between Israel and Hamas have circulated on social media, attracting millions of views.
Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, has been vocal about the need to detect and label AI-generated content as the company prepares for the 2024 election cycle, with global elections taking place in more than 30 countries this year, including many in the U.S., India, Brazil and other places where the company's app is widely used.
Meta recently updated its policy to label misleading AI-generated content on its site instead of removing it, and the company also requires advertisers to disclose if their Facebook and Instagram ads are created with AI related to social issues, elections or politics, but does not fact-check political ads.
