Meta adding AI disclosure requirement for 2024 election ads

Facebook owner Meta rolled out its plan for the 2024 elections this week, announcing it will soon begin requiring advertisers to disclose when content includes artificial intelligence-generated content.

Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, outlined the details in a blog post on Tuesday, saying the company’s approach will largely be similar to previous major election years, save for the new AI requirements that will kick in when the new year begins.

“This applies if the ad contains a photorealistic image or video, or realistic sounding audio, that was digitally created or altered to depict a real person as saying or doing something they did not say or do,” Clegg wrote, detailing when disclosures are required. 

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“It also applies if an ad depicts a realistic-looking person that does not exist or a realistic-looking event that did not happen, alters footage of a real event, or depicts a realistic event that allegedly occurred, but that is not a true image, video, or audio recording of the event,” he continued.

Consistent with previous years, Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram will block all new political ads during the final week of the election in the U.S., and will continue to block ads from state-controlled media outlets targeting Americans, as the social media giant has done since 2020.

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Meta’s new AI disclosure requirement comes a few months after fellow tech giant Google announced it will require political campaigns to disclose if they are using AI in their political ads.

The growth of AI in recent years has been rapid, and while it opens up significant new opportunities across multiple fields, it has also been accompanied by concerns about potential for misinformation as well as impacts on employment and safety concerns.

In the 2024 field, AI has already seen some use. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used AI footage to show former President Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci in an ad that criticized Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the Republican National Committee released an AI-generated ad that depicted a grim future for the U.S. if President Biden won reelection.

FOX Business’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.