The Danish government is planning to tackle the issue of AI-generated deepfakes by granting citizens property rights over their likeness and voice.
The proposed legislation would mean that people who find that their features have been used to create a deepfake would have the right to ask the platforms that host the content to take it down, Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt told CNN on Friday.
Engel-Schmidt believes that “technology has outpaced legislation” and the proposed law would help to protect artists, public figures and ordinary people from digital identity theft, which he said is now possible with just a few clicks thanks to the power of generative AI.
“I think we should not accept a situation where human beings can be run through, if you would have it, a digital copy machine and misused for all sorts of purposes,” he said.
He cited the example of musical artists who have discovered songs online purporting to be theirs, but which have in fact been made using AI clones of their voice.
One such case involves Canadian singer Celine Dion, who in March warned fans about AI-generated content featuring her voice and likeness that was circulating online.
And in April 2024, more than 200 artists, including Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, J Balvin, Ja Rule, Jon Bon Jovi, the Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry and Miranda Lambert, signed an open letter speaking out against AI-related threats in the music industry.
Engel-Schmidt says he has secured cross-party support for the bill, and he believes it will be passed this fall.
Once the legislation is passed, Engel-Schmidt believes a second step would be to introduce more legislation that could impose fines on companies that do not comply with requests to remove content featuring an AI-generated deepfake.
“We are champions of freedom of speech, we would like everyone to be heard, but we also believe that human beings have the right to say yes and no to them being used by generative AI,” he said.
As for whether he has discussed the proposed legislation with tech companies, Engel-Schmidt said: “Not yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s in their interest as well to make AI work for humanity, not against, you know, artists, popular figures and ordinary people.”
Athina Karatzogianni, a professor of technology and society at the University of Leicester, England, told CNN that the Danish proposal is one of hundreds of policy initiatives around the world looking to reduce the possible harms associated with the misuse of generative AI.
“Deepfakes can have both individual and social impact, because they can both harm individual rights and also (have) sociopolitical impacts, because they undermine the values that are fundamental to a democracy, such as equality and transparency,” said Karatzogianni.
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