YouTube Adds Politicians and Journalists to Deepfake Detection Tool

In a significant move given obvious global events, and with the midterm elections approaching, YouTube is expanding its likeness detection tool to political and civic leaders, as well as journalists, in a bid to curb AI-generated content that may seek to misinform or mislead users of the platform.

Politicos and journalists that participate will (after their identities have been verified by YouTube) be able to review videos that have been determined to feature their likeness, and request removal if it violates YouTube’s privacy policies. Generative AI, of course, has made it trivially easy to fake the likeness or voice of someone else.

YouTube first announced the tool in December 2024, initially rolling it out to A-list actors and athletes. Last year it expanded it to top creators, and now the company says some 4 million creators in the YouTube Partner Program have signed up to use it.

“We’ve always known that there was a need for this tech to go beyond just creators, and so today, we’re excited to announce that we’re going to expand this pilot to journalists and government officials, and we’re starting with a pilot group so we can learn how this group of users will use it to protect their identities online,” says Amjad Hanif, VP of Creator Products for YouTube, in a briefing with members of the press ahead of the feature’s launch. “And as we learn more from election cycles and how journalists use it, we’ll expand it to an even broader group of folks.”

“This expansion is really about the integrity of the public conversation,” adds Leslie Miller, VP of government affairs & public policy for YouTube. “We know that the risks of AI impersonation are particularly high for those in the civic space.”

The company declined to comment on which political leaders, civic leaders and journalists will be invited into the pilot program, though they said that they expect to ramp it up quickly.

“We’ve been in regular conversations with folks, and we encourage policymakers and others to reach out to the out to us if they want to learn more and fold into the ways in which we are expanding this,” Miller says.

Importantly, YouTube is also making it clear that the principles of free expression will apply, lest politicians attempt to abuse the tool:

“While we are providing this new shield, we’re also being careful about how we use it,” Miller says. “Detection does not mean automatic takedown. YouTube has a long history of protecting free expression, and that includes parody, satire and political critique. If a video of a world leader is clear parody, it’s likely to stay up.”

Hanif notes that, among the celebrities and YouTube creators that already use the tool, the number of removal requests is surprisingly small.

“They may see lots of matches, and I think for a lot of them, it’s just been the awareness of what’s being created,” he says. “But the volume of actually removal requests is really, really low, because most of it turns out to be fairly benign or additive to their overall business.”

The video platform also released a video explaining the tool and what it will mean for those now eligible to use it.