Regulating deep fakes and synthetic media: Privacy, policy and global regulatory challenges

Deep fake technology presents a profound challenge to data protection, privacy and regulatory frameworks worldwide. By exploiting biometric data without consent, deep fakes pose severe threats to privacy frameworks such as the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDPA). The ability to manipulate digital content using artificial intelligence (AI) raises concerns over identity theft, misinformation and biometric data security. This paper examines regulatory gaps, emerging AI-driven detection strategies and the need for privacy-preserving technological solutions. Through a comparative legal analysis, we identify gaps in existing regulations and propose a privacy-centric framework for mitigating deep fake risks. We further examine AI-driven solutions for authentication and policy interventions necessary for global regulatory alignment. Our findings suggest a multitiered regulatory response integrating technology, governance and privacy laws to counter deep fake threats while protecting individual rights. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.