Impersonating Head of State with Deepfakes is a National Security Issue, Says Tech Law Dean

The creation of a deepfake video using the voice of Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has ignited serious national security and legal debates across the island. The incident, which involved a video produced by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) social media editor, has prompted warnings from legal and security experts about the escalating threat of AI-generated disinformation.

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Impersonating a head of state's audio and video is a national security issue.

Chen Chih-hsiung, Dean of the College of Technology and Law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, stated that impersonating a head of state through fabricated audio and video constitutes a national security issue. He noted that while criticism of political figures is generally protected under freedom of speech, the advanced deepfake technology presents a new frontier in cognitive warfare. Chen described it as a potential precursor to "voice phishing," a novel form of asymmetric attack.

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This video may be the beginning of a new form of cognitive warfare, a new form of 'voice phishing'.

Chen cited several international examples to illustrate the dangers. These include a deepfake video of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy purportedly telling his troops to surrender early in the Russia-Ukraine war, a fabricated audio recording of a Slovak politician before an election, and AI-generated voice calls impersonating President Biden during the US primaries. He emphasized that a head of state's voice is a symbol of national sovereignty and command authority, holding the power to declare war or issue emergency orders.

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The voice of the head of state is a symbol of 'national sovereignty and command authority'.

The potential for deepfake technology to create a national security crisis by fabricating such critical communications is immense. While deepfakes of ordinary individuals might fall under private offenses, those that harm the public interest could be prosecuted under laws related to forging documents. Furthermore, Taiwan's Public Function Election and Recall Act prohibits the dissemination of rumors or false information through audio or video to influence election outcomes. Given that many candidates have already been nominated and campaigning is effectively underway, Chen argued that this deepfake video likely falls within the scope of prohibited acts and should be subject to official investigation.

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If it involves harming the public, it may constitute the crime of exercising forged quasi-private documents (audio and video are quasi-private documents).