NEW YORK: YouTube has introduced a new policy to address concerns about synthetic content mimicking individuals’ faces or voices, enabling affected parties to request removal based on privacy violations rather than concerns about deception or deepfakes.
According to YouTube’s updated Help documentation, individuals can now request the removal of AI-generated content that infringes on their privacy. This policy specifically targets scenarios where synthetic or AI-generated representations of individuals appear without their consent.
To initiate the process, complainants must submit first-party claims, with exceptions for cases involving minors, individuals without computer access, deceased persons, or other specified situations. However, submitting a takedown request does not ensure automatic removal. YouTube will evaluate each complaint based on several factors, including whether the content is synthetic or AI-generated, its potential to uniquely identify a person, and its context, such as parody, satire, or public interest.
YouTube will also consider whether the AI-generated content involves public figures or well-known individuals and whether it depicts sensitive activities like criminal behavior, violence, or endorsements of products or political figures.
Upon receiving a complaint, YouTube will notify the uploader, who will have 48 hours to respond. If the content is removed within this period, the complaint process is concluded. If not, YouTube will conduct a detailed review of the situation.
YouTube emphasized that removal requests result in the complete deletion of the video from the platform.
