The Technology 202: Doctored Pelosi video is leading tip in coming disinformation battle

The viral spread last week of a crudely doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted the lack of preparation by the United States for the next frontier in disinformation....

And it is a cautionary tale about what's to come: If a doctored video could go viral and be shared by a top associate of the president, experts warn disinformation challenges may only intensify as deepfake technology advances and becomes more common....

There have been previous efforts on Capitol Hill to spotlight deepfakes. Last year, senators pressed executives from Facebook and Twitter about the technology in a hearing about election security.Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in 2018 warned the technology could send the disinformation crisis into overdrive. Warner floated the idea of holding social media platforms liable for failure to take down deepfakes in a widely circulated policy paper last summer.

But recently, there's been less pressure on the issue on the Hill. Last week when the House held a hearing with technology company executives about election security, there was little curiosity from lawmakers on how disinformation threats are evolving. The panel instead focused its time on the issue of alleged anti-conservative bias on social media platforms....