Recently, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Provisions on the Administration of Deep Synthesis of Internet Information Services, which will go into effect on January 10, 2023. The provisions emphasize that deep synthesis service shall not be used to engage in activities prohibited by laws and administrative regulations, and require that deep synthesis service providers should fulfill the responsibilities for information security.

In recent years, deep synthesis technology has developed rapidly. While serving user needs and improving user experience, it has also been used by some lawbreakers to produce, copy, publish and disseminate illegal and harmful information, defame and derogate others’ reputation and honor, and fake others’ identities to commit fraud, which affects the communication order and social order, damages the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and endangers national security and social stability. The introduction of provisions is the need to prevent and resolve security risks, and also the need to promote the healthy development of deep synthesis services and improve the level of regulatory capacity.

The provisions require that deep synthesis service providers establish and improve the management system and technical guarantee measures, formulate open management rules and platform conventions, authenticate users’ real identity information, strengthen the management of deep synthesis content, and establish and improve the rumor refutation mechanism and the appeal, complaint and reporting mechanism.

The provisions clearly stipulate that deep synthesis service providers should add an identification that does not affect the use of the information generated or edited using its services. Where services like intelligent dialogue, synthetic voice, face generation and immersive virtual scene are provided to generate or significantly change the function of information content, they shall be clearly marked to avoid confusion or misunderstanding by the public.

The relevant person in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China said that the governance of deep synthesis services needs the participation of the government, enterprises, society, Internet users and other parties to promote the legal, rational and effective use of deep synthesis technology, actively prevent and resolve the risks caused by deep synthesis technology, promote the healthy development of Internet information services, and maintain a good ecosystem of cyberspace.