币界网报道:Deepfakes have ignited a political controversy in the Philippines after allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte shared an AI-generated video falsely depicting him endorsing a rival candidate. The manipulated clip, which circulated widely on social media, showed Duterte praising opposition leader Leni Robredo—a claim he later denied. Experts warn that such synthetic media poses growing risks to electoral integrity, particularly in Southeast Asia where political misinformation campaigns are on the rise. The incident coincides with Meta’s announcement of new policies to label AI-generated political ads globally, though enforcement remains challenging in decentralized platforms. Local fact-checkers identified telltale AI artifacts in the video, including irregular lip-syncing and unnatural facial movements. Philippine lawmakers are now debating stricter digital content regulations, mirroring broader regional efforts to combat AI-driven disinformation ahead of key elections. Cybersecurity analysts note this marks at least the third major deepfake incident in Asian politics this year, following similar cases in India and Indonesia. The technology’s increasing accessibility has lowered barriers for bad actors, with open-source tools now capable of producing convincing fakes using minimal training data. Civil society groups urge platforms to implement real-time detection systems, while some politicians call for criminal penalties against malicious deepfake creators. The controversy highlights escalating tensions between free speech advocates and regulators seeking to curb synthetic media abuses without stifling legitimate uses of generative AI.