The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance stated the need for systematic regulation of deepfakes

Alexander Shoitov, Deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, told Izvestia on February 27 at the New Runet forum at the Higher School of Economics about the need for systematic regulation of deepfake technologies. According to him, both government bodies — the Federation Council, the State Duma and relevant departments — and commercial structures are showing interest in the topic.

"The problem of deepfakes is really complicated: one term hides a whole range of technologies and use cases, so first it is important to understand exactly where such materials originate," said Shoitov.

He identified three key areas: generated content and illegal media, social media, and fraudulent calls and messages. Technologies are already being used in all these segments, but it is necessary to establish exactly where the violation occurs and what tools will prevent it.

According to the deputy minister, there are two basic approaches to counteraction. The first is to identify artificially created or modified content. The second is the labeling of materials. At the same time, it is necessary to determine what exactly is to be labeled — the original or the generated content, since each option has its own limitations and risks.

He stressed that identification can be carried out both in real time — for example, during a telephone conversation or online broadcast - and offline, when materials are sent for examination. In general, we are talking about an integrated system that combines technological solutions and regulatory regulation.

"Now the work is being carried out consistently. At the first stage, technologies are being analyzed, and current meetings are devoted to threat analysis. In the future, it is necessary to move quickly to regulation, primarily in those areas where risks are highest," explained Shoitov, noting that the new rules will be based on existing technical capabilities, and the approach to regulation should be systematic and phased — from the definition of strategic guidelines to the operational implementation of specific protection mechanisms.

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Alexey Markelov, Director of the AI Competence Center at ANO Digital Platforms, gave advice on deepfake recognition on February 3. According to him, visual problems usually manifest themselves in facial expressions and dynamics: the face looks too "smoothed out", emotions are simplified, and blinking is unnatural. Also, deepfake may have distortions around the edges of the face in the area of the eyes, mouth, hair, or chin when turning his head or making sudden movements.

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