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AI and social media platforms have accelerated deepfakes <\/p>\n
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Online deepfakes intend to vilify, mislead or sow confusion and Switzerland is one of many countries seeking to contain the growing problem.\n<\/p>\n
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July 7, 2026 – 09:00\n<\/p>\n
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\n I write about the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence technology and its possible impacts on society.
\nOriginally from England, I spent some time at the BBC in London before moving to Switzerland to join SWI swissinfo.ch. <\/p>\n
Newer artificial intelligence (AI) tools have drastically increased the scale and scope of deepfakes. The latest AI models make it easy for anyone to create fake images, video or audio content from their own homes without specialist skills.<\/p>\n Recent examples of widespread deepfakes include so-called \u201cnudifier\u201d apps that generate naked pictures of people, including minors. Fraudsters have been conning people out of money using videos of celebrities that are manipulated to show them endorsing fake investments schemes.<\/p>\n Politicians are also increasingly using deepfakes to promote their own images or attack opponents. And there has been growing alarm at foreign states, like Russia, using AI-generated deepfakes to disrupt democratic systems<\/a> in western countries.<\/p>\n Cybersecurity company DeepStrike says the number of detected cases surged from 500,000 in 2023 to more than eight million last year. The Swiss platform clickandstop.ch, which was set up to record cases of cyberbullying and child sex abuse, revealed a 63% rise in reported cases<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n How deepfakes are impacting our vision of reality <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Aug 13, 2021 <\/p>\n Two Swiss deepfake experts explain why it is so easy to fool the human eye and spread disinformation. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: How deepfakes are impacting our vision of reality \u201cAn increasing number of people are also coming forward because photos of them naked have been created and disseminated using artificial intelligence,\u201d said the platform, which is supported by agencies such as Child Protection Switzerland.<\/p>\n Raw statistics alone do not measure the suffering of individual victims, the erosion of public trust in the truth or the threat to democracies. For example, a Tages Anzeiger newspaper investigation uncovered fake sex videos and nude photos of numerous women, including female influencers, being circulated in public Telegram forums.<\/p>\n Such cases have intensified calls to increase the pace and focus of action against the worsening problem. \u201cIf we fail to act as a society, it will send a disastrous message: that it\u2019s somehow acceptable to turn real women into virtual sex machines,\u201d stated an opinion piece in the Tages Anzeiger newspaper.<\/p>\n But while there is widespread acknowledgement that the law needs to meet the threat posed by deepfakes to individual integrity and social cohesion, lawmakers in Switzerland and elsewhere, are divided on how to act.<\/p>\n Beefing up legal defences<\/p>\n Swiss officials are divided on the direction, pace and extent of changes to the legal code that are needed to tackle deepfakes. Last year, the Swiss parliament rejected a proposal<\/a> by Green Party lawmaker Rapha\u00ebl Mahaim to introduce laws to counter deepfakes.<\/p>\n But in June of this year, the government and the House of Representatives accepted a follow-up motion by Mahaim that specifically targets sexualised deepfakes. This motion followed the scandal of nudifier deepfakes generated by the AI platform Grok, which is integrated into the social media platform X.<\/p>\n Mahaim\u2019s second motion calls for rules to force AI platforms \u201cto conduct risk and damage assessments\u201d of sexualised deepfake content \u201cand to implement protective measures\u201d if needed. The motion also calls for an oversight body that could impose sanctions on platforms that don\u2019t comply.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n How Swiss scientists are trying to spot deepfakes <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Mar 11, 2020 <\/p>\n There is growing urgency among experts to prepare for cases in which deepfake techniques are used to manipulate public opinion. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: How Swiss scientists are trying to spot deepfakes In earlier parliamentary debates, Swiss\u00a0government minister Albert R\u00f6sti, who heads the communications ministry,\u00a0 stated that the criminal and civil law codes are sufficient to tackle deepfake abuses. He also pointed out that Switzerland has signed up to the Council of Europe\u2019s AI Convention to defend democracy, the rule of law and human rights against AI abuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of this commitment, the justice ministry will offer recommendations on how to tweak some aspects the Swiss legal code. But David Vasella, a partner at the Walder Wyss law firm and founder of the datenrecht.ch platform for data law, does not expect to see a wholesale revision of the legal code with the current government strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cCreating additional laws specifically for deepfakes, which apply on top of existing laws, could create new problems for legal clarity,\u201d Vasella told Swissinfo as he cautioned against complicating the legal code with overlapping laws. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to call for additional regulation but hard to do it wisely.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Vasella advocates beefing up such bodies as the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, a supervisory authority that protects people from misuse of their data. \u00a0 + Is AI a risk to democracy?<\/a><\/p>\n Holding platforms to account<\/p>\n Some people in Switzerland have been left frustrated by what they see as a vague and slow approach to amending the law. In March, a cross-party group of parliamentarians backed a popular initiative calling for regulations to shield people from digital harm.<\/p>\n If it gathers enough support, the \u201cInternet Initiative\u201d will force a nationwide vote on regulations to protect \u201cfundamental rights and democracy in the digital space\u201d. This includes action against disinformation, sexualised violence and cybercrime.<\/p>\n Technology platforms would be obliged to investigate complaints from the public and to take \u201cnecessary countermeasures\u201d against harmful content.<\/p>\n + Read our series on the ethics of artificial intelligence<\/a><\/p>\n The Swiss government has launched its own proposed legislation to hold social media platforms and search engines to account for distributing abusive and false content.<\/p>\n But the draft law typifies the slow rate of progress in this area. First mooted by the Swiss government in 2023, the bill was only introduced last October and has yet to reach parliament. The draft legislation, aimed mainly at large American technology companies, was delayed during tariff negotiations with the US administration last year.<\/p>\n It intends to force the largest digital platforms to formally process complaints of defamation, insults, discrimination and incitement to hatred. Companies would be obliged to set up legal representation in Switzerland and to publicly justify their decisions on removing content or blocking accounts.<\/p>\n The Swiss NGO Algorithm Watch has welcomed the draft legislation as \u201ccrucial\u201d. But the pressure group warns that it must be enforced effectively so it \u201cdoes not simply become a toothless paper tiger\u201d.<\/p>\n Using technology to reduce digital harm<\/p>\n But no matter what politicians decide to do, tech companies also play a role in containing deepfakes. Several tech firms, including Swiss firms<\/a>, have specialised in detecting deepfakes by tracking trails of digital clues that point to manipulation. But newer AI models are learning to make more believable deepfakes, forcing detectors to constantly upgrade their sleuthing methods. This has resulted in a cat-and-mouse game as both sides try to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich are approaching the problem from a different angle by proving the authenticity of original content with the help of encrypted digital signatures. The institute\u2019s researchers have designed a new type of sensor technology for cameras and other recording devices that imprints a type of watermark onto digital content the moment it is created. This allows people to tell the difference between authentic, original content and any future, manipulated copies.<\/p>\n \u201cDeepfakes are a \u2018denial of truth\u2019 attack,\u201d Fernando Cardes, co-creator of the ETH Zurich cryptographic digital signature system, told Swissinfo. \u201cWe are providing anchor points of authenticity to help people accurately determine what is real or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cA new law without adequate enforcement looks good but does nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cDoubling resources for the data protection authority could have a far greater impact. Rather than having new laws we should enforce the existing ones better.\u201d<\/p>\n