CICC chief calls for new laws vs. deepfakes

By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz, Philippine News Agency

LAWS VS. DEEPFAKE. Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center (CICC) Deputy Executive Director, Undersecretary Renato Paraiso, speaks to the media during a conference at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) central office in Diliman, Quezon City on Oct. 12, 2023. Paraiso on Friday (Sept. 5, 2025) called on lawmakers to come up with laws against the creation, distribution, and possession of deepfake content, especially pornographic videos. (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)

MANILA – The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) on Friday called on lawmakers to come up with legislation against the creation, sharing, distribution, or possession of pornographic materials made through artificial intelligence (AI) technology called “deepfake.”

In a Bagong Pilipinas interview over PTV, CICC Chief, Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso, said there is a “gap” that needs to be filled to enable law enforcement agencies to combat deepfake materials.

To date, he said, deepfakes can be considered “victim-less crimes” as it can be claimed they are animations based on fictional characters.

“The solution here is for us to create a law to prohibit the creation, manufacture, sharing, distribution, or possession of videos containing artificially recreated pornographic materials,” Paraiso said.

The CICC’s Threat Monitoring Center (TMC) has discovered that most deepfakes circulating in the country were created abroad and are most likely linked to organized criminal organizations.

“We can see that the funds from scams, from illegal gambling, are being used to reinforce other forms of revenue from illegal online harms,” he said.

He said detecting deepfakes is harder than filtering content, such as illegal gambling or fake news, as deepfakes need to be analyzed in real-time instead of through automated tools.

Once detected, he said, social media platforms can immediately take down deepfake videos, but many remain in circulation through the dark web.

“We have tried this during the election. When it comes to deepfakes, social media platforms work fast. The problem with pornographic and adult deepfakes is they’re not on social media platforms. They’re in the dark web,” he said.

He called on the public to report deepfakes, scams, illegal gambling, child pornography, and other online crimes to the hotline 1326.

The hotline is available 24/7 and has a feedback mechanism that enables complainants to check on the status of their reported case and whether it has been referred to law enforcement agencies.