YouTube adds a tool to detect fake videos!

The NewYorkTimes.com reported that the “Social media companies are under pressure to crack down on so-called deepfake videos that use deceptive images of real people.”  The March 10, 2026 article entitled " YouTube Adds Tool to Help Public Figures Report Fake Videos” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/technology/youtube-deepfakes-detection-tool.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share) includes comments from Reporter Natallie Rocha:

YouTube is adding a detection tool for government officials, political candidates and journalists to catch and report videos that use artificial intelligence to display their likeness without permission.

The pilot program, announced on Tuesday, is arriving as social media companies and a patchwork of new laws start to address the problem of these so-called deepfakes, which are spreading as A.I. video technology rapidly improves. But the companies have largely relied on users to report fake material.

To enroll in YouTube’s new program, people need to provide a video selfie and government identification, the company said. The user can then see the videos that YouTube has detected in an online dashboard. From there, there is an option to flag them for review and removal.

“As new technology emerges and we participate in the debate around what’s the appropriate use and controls around likeness, we feel like it’s our responsibility to invest in technology to help handle that,” said Leslie Miller, YouTube’s vice president of government affairs and public policy.

The A.I. content is not blocked from being uploaded, but after it has been detected, participants in the program can request that it be taken down. Exceptions to removal under the pilot program include videos that are clearly made in “parody, satire and public interest,” Ms. Miller said.

The company said the identity information would be used only to verify the person’s identity and not to train Google’s A.I. models.

Sounds like good news!