Germany flags risks of AI-made Holocaust images on social media

Germany has warned social media platforms over the spread of false AI holocaust images. The government and Holocaust memorial institutions have asked social media platforms to stop the spread of fake images, which they claim are distorting and trivializing history.

Concerns were expressed by concentration camp memorial sites and documentation centers in a recent letter, criticizing the surge in so-called AI slop or falsified images, around the Nazis’ killing of more than six million Jews in Germany during World War II. These images include emotional illustrations of invented incidents, such as meetings of concentration camp inmates and their liberators or children behind barbed wire fences.

Germany wants to halt the spread of false AI holocaust images

In the letter sent by the organizations, they noted that AI-generated content distorts history by trivializing serious events that happened a long time ago. They mentioned that such images could help fuel mistrust among users of authentic historical documents. Wolfram Weimer, Germany’s state minister for culture and media, mentioned that he supported the steps and efforts taken by the memorial institutions in this case, revealing that it is the right step to take.

Wolfram also mentioned that he supported their decision to have AI-generated imagery of the ancient incidents marked and, in the cases where necessary, removed from social media platforms. He mentioned that it is a matter of respect for millions of people who were killed and persecuted under the Nazi Germany regime of terror. According to the memorial institutions’ letter, they noted that the creators of the imagery appeared to use it to generate attention online and earn money.

The organizations also mentioned that the perpetrators also partly intended to dilute facts, shift victim and perpetrator roles, and spread revisionist narratives. The institutions include memorial centers for Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, and other concentration camps where Jews, as well as others, including Roma and Sinti people, were killed. They asked social media platforms to move proactively against fake AI imagery around the Holocaust rather than waiting for users to report it.

Holocaust organizations want AI-generated images labeled

In addition, they asked the platforms to label them clearly, as they believe it will prevent the users who generated the images from being able to monetize them. The spread of low-quality AI slop, which includes fake text, images, or video, has raised alarm among many experts. They believe it would pollute the information landscape and make it hard for users to separate the truth from falsehood. The incident follows the one that AI firms, notably Elon Musk’s xAI, which owns chatbot Grok, are currently grappling with.

The company has been under pressure over the last couple of weeks over certain users generating thousands of sexualized deepfake images of women and minors and spreading them across several social media platforms. The menace has seen several leaders of countries call the company to order, with others asking them to develop the appropriate safeguards to tackle the incidents. Countries like Indonesia have also announced a temporary ban on the chatbot till all is resolved.

Meanwhile, the platform has confirmed that it will geoblock the ability of Grok and X users to generate deepfakes of people in locations where the actions are branded as illegal. However, it remains to be seen if the new safeguards will apply to its standalone application or its website. It also remains to be seen if the measures will stop users from generating these kinds of images or will push them to look for new ways to access the service.

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