[Senate Report 117-114]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 382
117th Congress        }                         {             Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session           }                         {             117-114
_______________________________________________________________________

 
                        DEEPFAKE TASK FORCE ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 2559

                 TO ESTABLISH THE NATIONAL DEEPFAKE AND
         DIGITAL PROVENANCE TASK FORCE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

		[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                  May 24, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
                  
                  
                  	       __________
                   
                   
                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
		
29-010 			    WASHINGTON : 2022

                
                  
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
                  Michelle M. Benecke, Senior Counsel
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
            Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     

                                                      Calendar No. 382
117th Congress        }                         {             Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session           }                         {             117-114

======================================================================




                        DEEPFAKE TASK FORCE ACT

                                _______
                                

                  May 24, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2559]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 2559) to establish 
the National Deepfake and Digital Provenance Task Force, and 
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the 
bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and the Need for Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............5

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 2559, the Deepfake Task Force Act, requires the 
Secretary of Homeland Security to convene a task force to 
examine how to reduce the proliferation of deepfakes and 
differentiate these digital forgeries from authentic images, 
video, text, or audio. Task Force members will be experts in 
artificial intelligence, media manipulation, digital forensics, 
and other related subjects and come from the federal 
government, higher education, and private or nonprofit 
organizations. The task force will develop a coordinated plan 
to reduce the proliferation and impact of deepfakes, including 
through new digital content provenance standards and 
technologies. The findings and recommendations of the task 
force will be submitted to the President and Congress through 
an interim report and a final report.

              II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Deepfakes are highly realistic images and sounds that are 
created through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine 
learning (ML). Deepfake creators can use deepfake technology to 
manipulate media and replace an actual person's image or voice 
with artificial likenesses or voices. As the software 
underpinning these technologies becomes easier to acquire and 
use, the dissemination of deepfake content across trusted media 
platforms has the potential to undermine national security and 
erode public trust in our democracy, among other nefarious 
impacts.
    The threat that deepfakes could pose if used in 
misinformation campaigns is well known and well-documented. The 
Congressional Research Service (CRS) has noted that ``[s]tate 
adversaries or politically motivated individuals could release 
falsified videos of elected officials or other public figures 
making incendiary comments or behaving inappropriately. Doing 
so could, in turn, erode public trust, negatively affect public 
discourse, or even sway an election.''\1\ Instances of such 
sophisticated misinformation have already been reported: 
fictitious journalists with invented backgrounds and AI-
generated avatars have proliferated opinion pieces on various 
issues related to the Middle East,\2\ and Taiwanese authorities 
have identified signs that China used AI-powered misinformation 
to interfere with Taiwan's 2020 elections.\3\ Testimony before 
Congress has further highlighted the national security 
challenges of deepfakes and artificial intelligence.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Congressional Research Service, Deep Fakes and National 
Security (IF11333) (Jun. 8, 2021).
    \2\ An Online Propaganda Campaign Used AI-generated Headshots to 
Create Fake Journalists, The Verge (Jul. 7, 2020) (https://
www.theverge.com/2020/7/7/21315861/ai-generated-headshots-profile-
pictures-fake-journalists-daily-beast-investigation).
    \3\ China Uses Taiwan for AI Target Practice to Influence 
Elections, The Australian (Jan. 5, 2020) (https://
www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/china-uses-taiwan-for-ai-
target-practice-to-influence-elections/news-story/
57499d2650d4d359a3857688d416d1e5).
    \4\ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, National Security 
Challenges of Artificial Intelligence, Manipulated Media, and 
Deepfakes, 116th Cong. (Jun. 13, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The 116th Congress responded to the threat of deepfakes 
with a variety of legislation, including Section 589F of the FY 
2021 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 116-293), which 
requires the Department of Defense to complete an 
``intelligence assessment of the threat posed by foreign 
government and non-state actors creating or using machine-
manipulated media (commonly referred to as `deep fakes')''.\5\ 
The Identifying Outputs of Generative Adversarial Networks Act 
(P.L. 116-258) directed the National Science Foundation (NSF) 
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
to support research on generative adversarial networks, which 
are the systems that produce deepfakes. The Deepfake Report Act 
(P.L. 116-283) requires the Science and Technology Directorate 
in the Department of Homeland Security to report at specific 
intervals on the state of digital content forgery 
technology.\6\ While these laws provide important first steps 
in understanding deepfakes and their uses, they do not address 
the need for coordinated strategies to stem the proliferation 
of misinformation powered by deepfakes, including through 
digital content provenance technologies that could help 
distinguish authentic media from deepfakes.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, Pub. L. 116-283, 
Sec. 589F(b)(8) (2021).
    \6\ S. 2065, 116th Cong. (2019).
    \7\ For example, the National Security Commission on Artificial 
Intelligence (NSCAI) recommended the creation of a task force, such as 
the one created by S. 2559, to study digital content authenticity and 
provenance. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, 
Final Report (March 1, 2021), at 49.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In response to the challenges of misinformation, private 
sector efforts are underway to develop standards to certify the 
authenticity and provenance of audiovisual content.\8\ Further, 
the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has 
stated that this technology area is ripe for public-private 
partnership.\9\ The task force created by S. 2559 will include 
experts from the government, private sector, and higher 
education who will work together to produce a coordinated plan 
to reduce the proliferation and impact of digital 
misinformation through deepfakes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Id.; see also Coalition for Content Provenance and 
Authenticity, Home Page (https://c2pa.org) (accessed Oct. 21, 2021).
    \9\ National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Final 
Report (March 1, 2021), at 49.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced S. 2559, the Deepfake 
Task Force Act, on July 29, 2021, with Chairman Gary Peters (D-
MI) as cosponsor. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 2559 at a business meeting on 
August 4, 2021. The bill was ordered reported favorably en bloc 
by voice vote with Senators Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, 
Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, 
Scott, and Hawley present.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    The short title of the bill is the Deepfake Task Force Act.

Section 2. National deepfake and digital provenance task force

    This section establishes a task force on deepfakes and 
digital provenance. The task force has 12 members (four members 
each from government, academia, and the private sector), and is 
chaired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
    The purpose of the task force is to reduce the 
proliferation and impact of deepfakes, with a specific focus on 
the development of standards for digital provenance. The task 
force will assemble experts to help develop necessary 
provenance standards to ensure digital provenance technology is 
accessible, interoperable with different cameras and internet 
platforms, and privacy-focused.
    The task force will also propose research projects to 
improve the detection of deepfakes, policy changes to reduce 
the proliferation of deepfakes online, models for public-
private partnerships to fight disinformation, and metrics to 
determine the success of technologies at reducing the 
proliferation of deepfakes.
    The task force will generally be staffed by detailees from 
other agencies. Where the task force seeks to hire an 
individual outside of government, that individual would be paid 
by their parent organization.
    Finally, the task force will produce an interim report 
within one year after establishment, and a final report within 
180 days after the interim report. The task force shall 
terminate 90 days after the final report.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, January 11, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2559, the Deepfake 
Task Force Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lindsay 
Wylie.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    S. 2559 would require the Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) to establish a task force to address digital content 
forgeries, also known as ``deepfakes.'' These forgeries 
manipulate digital content, such as videos, with the intent to 
mislead the viewer. The task force would investigate the 
feasibility of deploying standards and technologies for 
verifying the origin and history of digital content. The bill 
also would require DHS to develop a national strategy to 
address threats posed by digital content forgeries in 
consultation with federal agencies and private and non-profit 
organizations. The task force would submit an initial report to 
the Congress on its findings and recommendations after one 
year, transmit a final report six months later, and terminate 
three months after the final report is submitted.
    The task force would consist of 12 members, including two 
chairpersons from relevant federal agencies. The other 10 
members would include two additional federal employees and 
eight representatives from non-profit or private organizations 
or institutions of higher education. The bill would allow 
members to be reimbursed for travel expenses. Using information 
about the cost of similar entities, CBO estimates DHS would 
need $3 million over the 2022-2026 period for staff, travel, 
and other administrative expenses to operate the task force. 
Such spending would be subject to the availability of 
appropriated funds.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Lindsay Wylie. 
The estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Director of Budget 
Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    Because S. 2559 would not repeal or amend any provision of 
current law, it would make no changes in existing law within 
the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI 
of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

                                  [all]