Whose dystopia is it anyway? Deepfakes and social media regulation

Abstract

This study explores global journalistic discussions of deepfake applications (audiovisual manipulating applications based on artificial intelligence (AI)) to understand the narratives constructed through global coverage, the regulatory actions associated with these offered narratives, and the functions such narratives might serve in global sociopolitical contexts. Through a qualitative–interpretive narrative analysis, this article shows how journalists frame deepfakes as a destabilizing platform that undermines a shared sense of social and political reality, enables the abuse and harassment of women online, and blurs the acceptable dichotomy between real and fake. This phenomenon is tied to discussions of dis/misinformation, manipulation, exploitation, and polarization in the media ecosystem these days. Based on these findings, the article then provides broader practical and theoretical insights about AI content regulation and ethics, accountability, and responsibility in digital culture.