Expository Essay on Cybercrime - Deepfakes

Introduction

In the modern system where the internet has taken over every sector of the economies, there is an increase in cybercrimes. Computer networking continues to rise, and this attracts criminals who tend to hack the systems to illegally acquire information from different organizations for malicious uses. The increase in the use of the internet leads to a corresponding increase in cybercrimes. Therefore, cybercrime refers to any criminal activity that incorporates a computer, a network, and networked devices. While most of the cybercrime activities are conducted to gain profits for the cybercriminals, some are done to damage the reputation of people (Chatzinikolaou and Lievens 2019, p. 32). Additionally, through the use of computer networks, cybercriminals can spread fake information to different people across the world. Cybercriminals can use computers to spread illegal information, malware, fake or real images, and other materials for the purposes of damaging the reputation of an individual. Deepfaking is part of the cybercrime conducted by various cybercriminal across the world. The idea of Deepfakes originates from the term "deep learning" and "fake" (Delfino 2019, p.32).

Cybercriminals often apply artificial intelligence software to carry out video synthesis and create new videos out of the original ones. In the process of making deep images and videos, Artificial Intelligence can superimpose the image or face of one subject to a video of another or the target video. With the advanced technology, the synthesis of a completely new model of an individual applying the source's facial gestures and video or image is possible (Delfino 2019, p.29). Deepfakes are, therefore, forms of impersonation whereby a different fake video can be formulated from the original one. Succinctly, Deepfake refers to a technique that involves human image synthesis according to the Artificial Intelligence; it is applied superimposed and combine existing videos and images onto source videos or images by using the machine learning techniques called the generative adversarial networks.

Deepfakes and Other Forms of Defamations

Deepfakes are distinct from other forms of defamation; in other words, it is the newest form of cybercriminal activity that is complicated and hard to detect. In other forms of defamation, there is always the consideration of false statement that ate intended to destroy the reputation of a person, product, business, religion group, or a nation. In other words, the other form of defamation may be expressed in writing, and they may come from a specific source and directed to a third party (Chesney and Citron 2018, p.17). With Deepfakes, it is very difficult to identify the sources of information and the intended purpose. In other words, they can be used to spread fake information from an individual. Under the common NSW defamation laws, to constitute defamation, generally, there must be a false claim which has to be made to someone other than the individual defamed. There are some other common law jurisdictions that can distinguish between the defamation in other media platforms such as the Images and the printed words and the spoken defamation (Chesney and Citron 2018, p.19). With Deepfakes, it is very difficult to identify the source that the creator of the images or videos. The Deepfakes are not covered in the NSW defamation laws. In other words, the NSW defamation laws do not meet the factual and basic legal elements which ought to be proven for the defamation cases to flourish. According to the above legal requirements, the defamation case ought to be communicated or be published to a third party (Holt, Bossler, and Seigfried-Spellar 2017, p.11). The information under claim must be defamatory; in other words, they need to contain some elements that prove that the actual defamatory have been made. In the Deepfakes, some of the images or videos may contain hidden information that can confuse individuals in social media and other networks (Chesney and Citron 2018, p.21).

With the advancement in the cybercrime, there is the need for adjustment of laws to conform to the ever-changing of criminal activities over the internet. The above scenario, therefore, necessitates more stringent laws from common laws and legislations in NSW. In other words, there is a need to incorporate Deepfakes elements to the law system. Under the NSW laws, only people, specific non-for-profit organizations, and corporations with at most ten employees are entitled to sue for defamation. However, with the current advancement in the cybercrime activities, all people from different environments are affected, and therefore, laws and regulations need to be adjusted to allow everyone to sue for defamation. Deepfakes can be conducted by small groups of people or individuals who possess little technical skills or even by highly organized groups, including skilled developers or other people with relevant expertise.

Regulating and Preventing Deepfakes

Damages the reputation of some of many public figures and organizations across the world. Regulating social media and the entire internet and networks is, therefore, an ideal step that can reduce or mitigate the Deepfakes. To reduce the chances of prosecution and detection of the cybercriminals, there is the need for the detectives to choose nations with nonexistent or weak cybercrime laws. Copyright regulation is one of the best approaches to dealing with Deepfakes.

In most cases, the copyright owner has full responsibility or right to produce and reproduce videos or works in various forms. They should, therefore, be subjected to stiff regulations so that the information produced do not get distorted or used by the cybercriminals to cause defamation. In some cases, the Deepfake videos, audio, or even the texts especially those derived from the copyrighted photos and videos can easily infringe the copyright laws depending on the republication and modification of similar photos and videos. The owner of the videos or the photos from which the Deepfakes originate may have remedies in the copyright laws which may include damages, injunctions, as well as the court orders for the copies of the photos and the videos to be destroyed.

To reduce or even prevent the Deepfakes, there is the need to regulate the internet and the networks so that different sites do not include air videos or photos from Deepfakes. The regulations can be enforced to different social media platforms, computer networks, and the entire internet platforms. Some of the sites that contain Deepfakes include porn sites, where an individual face can be used in videos where they did not participated. Some other areas where the Deepfakes videos are found include Facebook for the purposes of spreading lies and fake news during political campaigns.

Impacts of Deepfakes

Deepfakes have a great impact on society; they are often used to endanger the reputation of the prominent figures either in politics or in business. In many cases, the images of presidents of the United States such as Barack Obama have surfaced over the internet with strange information being relayed through the video. In some other cases, the fake videos of Donald Trump have surfaced online with vulgar language or abusive statements (Maras and Alexandrou 2018, p.18). These videos were meant to destroy the reputation of the above-mentioned people so that the political opponents can take advantage of the reputation. The Deepfakes can destroy not only the reputation of the prominent figures but also the democracy of a nation. For instance, in the 2016 US elections, Cambridge Analytica was accused of spreading fake news using Deepfakes, a situation that created a bad reputation to the United States electoral system as well as the election regulators (Maras and Alexandrou 2018, p.15).

Deepfakes are often directed towards reducing the dignity of a person. Many times, people get implicated in various negative issues as a result of Deepfakes. In some of the porn sites, there is the use of images of prominent people in the sexual acts (Henry, Flynn, and Powell 2019, p.19). These videos are always designed to reflect the true pictures of the victims, a situation that can destroy the reputation and dignity of an individual who is respected and hold the highest level of social status. Michel Obama has been one of the victims of Deepfakes (Henry, Flynn, and Powell, 2019, p.19). The fakes depicting Emma Watson, an actress are some of the common Deepfakes as well as those involving Natalie Portman. Also, the sex clips of Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton, and Ivanka Trump have been made and spread over the internet to threaten of endangering their reputation and image. The sources of such clips or videos have, however, remained unknown.

Accessibility of Deepfakes

With the existence of different internet sites, the accessibility of Deepfakes has been made easier. In other words, cybercriminals find it easier to relay the Deepfakes in various platforms over the websites. Even though some of the sites have limited the types of contents that go into their sites, in most cases, some of the Deepfakes are placed in these sites inform of advertisements and other methods. For example, in the past, Google has made attempts to alter the search results with the aim of increasing difficulty in accessing some of the contents (Ferreira, Carvalho, Andalo, and Rocha 2019, p.13). However, in most cases, these companies do not have control over what goes into their sites. In the modern time that is characterized by the increase in the internet activity, different sites have been forced to wrestle with the problem of revenge porn, the real images, and videos posted with the lack of consent from the real producers to intimidate or harass. The Deepfakes videos may not be real; however, they often induce the psychological torture that may affect an individual perception of society.

The Deepfakes are easily accessible over the social media and in different platforms. Sometimes they come as spam messages in the inbox (Hyman 2013, p.19). The idea to damage the reputation of people have always existed; the only reason why people did not have access to these videos was the lack of elaborate platforms. The rise of the internet and the social media platforms, therefore, made it easier for the cybercriminals of those individuals engaged in the development of Deepfakes to spread these videos. Also, the rise of artificial intelligence and different coding software have made it easier for the hackers or the cybercriminals to engage in the increase production of Deepfakes (Ferreira, Carvalho, Andalo, and Rocha 2019, p.12). The ease of accessibility of the Deepfakes has also made it easier for different people or cybercriminals to engage in the production of more products. For instance, one can monitor a given image of video regarded as a Deepfake and apply the same principle to develop more videos or images of the people they were to endanger their reputation.

Perception of Deepfakes

The main problem with the Deepfake is that they often look authentic, and as a result, they tend to deceive the viewers who may not know to differentiate between fake and real images and videos. Cybercriminals understand how to coin the images to make them look real. As a result, with the anxiety that people have over the social media platforms, they often tend to spread the information; the video or the image. In addition to the attempts to make Deepfake appear real, cybercriminals often make sure that these images are produced timely about a given situation so tha...