The Ministry of Communication and Digital is preparing regulations to anticipate the misuse of "deepfakes" or fake videos produced using artificial intelligence (AI).
"We will make stricter regulations to monitor the use of this technology," said the Director of Certification and Electronic Transaction Supervision of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Technology, Teguh Arifiyadi, at the PP Muhammadiyah Office, Yogyakarta, Tuesday.
According to Teguh, the government is currently still working on the most appropriate regulatory model, with two approaches currently being studied, namely regulating each type of technology specifically or compiling it in the form of comprehensive general regulations.
"Will we regulate specifically per technology, or will we create general rules to provide space or comprehensive supervision governance," he said.
Teguh assessed that stricter regulations need to be prepared immediately as the potential for misuse of AI-based technology, especially deepfakes, grows.
The reason is, this technology is able to engineer a person's image, voice, or video to resemble the original.
"Imagine a 'WhatsApp (WA)-call' from the president to a minister appears, even though it uses 'deepfake'. What will happen? The country could be affected," explained Teguh.
The threat, he said, is no longer just an allegation. On February 4, 2025, the Cyber Crime Directorate of the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit arrested the perpetrator of the distribution of "deepfakes" featuring President Prabowo Subianto and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
The perpetrator's method is to upload the AI-engineered video to Instagram to spread misleading narratives.
In addition to drafting regulations, Teguh continued, the government will also pay attention to ethical aspects and standardization of the use of AI technology. "So that the use of AI is minimally misused," he said.
