(BINI/X)

Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas is pushing the Department Of Information And Communications Technology (DICT) to improve its measures against maliciously manipulated photos and videos following deepfakes that targeted P-pop girl group BINI.

During the plenary debates on the agency's Friday, Sept. 20, Brosas noted that the sexually exploitative photos and videos of BINI that spread on social media were blatant sexual harassment.

“Very popular sila eh, tapos nagagawa sa kanila ‘yung ganito tapos tinatangkilik ‘yun online,” she said in her interpellation.

(They are very popular, and then this happens to them, and it’s being exploited online.)

The DICT, through its budget sponsor Makati City 2nd district Rep. Luis Campos Jr., assured Brosas of their action on the issue through its Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).

Brosas, however, pointed out that CICC was only “building up its capability”, and only “in relation” to online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).

The ages of the eight-member BINI are between 19 and 23 years old.

The DICT is also in the process of securing agreements with social media providers, such as Meta, TikTok, and Google to launch “banners” for deepfake content.

“Kung may deepfake po, iba-banner na at i-identify na it is not genuine. It is considered a deepfake, lalabas na ito sa social media platforms and hopefully we can have that,” said Campos.

(If there is a deepfake, there will be a banner to identify that it is not genuine, it is considered a deepfake, it will appear on social media platforms and hopefully we can have that.)

Brosas further stressed that deepfake technology not only poses “a significant threat” to BINI, other celebrities, or even politicians. She says it is a concern for society as a whole.

“The government should take proactive measures to address this emerging and alarming challenge,” she emphasized.

BINI, known as the nation’s premiere female act, are known for their hit songs “Pantropiko” and “Salamin, Salamin”.