Deepfakes: The Identifying Outputs of Generative Adversarial Networks Act (IOGAN)

On December 9th, Congressional Future Caucus (CFC) co-chair Rep. Anthony Gonzalez’s (R-OH-16) bipartisan H.R. 4355 passed in the House of Representatives. Rep. Gonzalez introduced the Identifying Outputs of Generative Adversarial Networks (IOGAN) Act in September alongside new CFC co-chair Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI-11). The bill provides for increased funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to examine the United States’ ability to identify and combat deepfakes and better understand the technology. 

When the bill was introduced in September 2019, Rep. Stevens released the following statement: “In recent years, the development of deepfake technology has made it easier to create convincing fake videos, which have already been used for malicious purposes. The Identifying Outputs of Generative Adversarial Networks Act will help us better understand deepfakes and learn how to prevent the proliferation of fake news, hoaxes, and other harmful applications of video manipulation technology.” Read the full press release here.

The emergence of deepfake technology poses a serious problem for democracies around the world. As deepfakes become more ubiquitous, and the technology more sophisticated, the threat for serious damage to democratic institutions becomes much greater. Congressman Gonzalez said of the bill:  “It is critical that we learn to identify and combat deepfake technology now to stop scammers and foreign entities who would seek to do harm to the American public.” 

The legislation comes at a time when it is critical for the U.S. to bolster its defenses against false information and demonstrates the essential bipartisan work still being done in Washington. A bipartisan companion bill was recently introduced in the Senate. 

Read more about this bill.