The Federal Government's action plan to combat deepfakes was presented in the Council of Ministers on May 25, 2022. The action plan against this modern form of disinformation was drawn up interministerially and will now be presented to the National Council.
Digitalization and technological progress have fundamentally changed our lives over the last 20 years and are also our best chance of mastering the challenges of the future. At the same time, digitalization also poses risks – for our security, our society and our democracy. Back in 2020, Austria was one of the first countries in Europe to take an important measure against hatred online and for respectful interaction with one another with the Communication Platforms Act. With the expansion of technological possibilities, so-called “deepfakes” as a new form of disinformation have become increasingly widespread on the Internet in recent years. For example, people from business or politics are deceptively retouched using digital manipulation in situations they were never in. The aim is to harm these people or blackmail them.
“The digitalization of our society, which has accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is leading to a rapid increase in so-called deepfakes. Deepfakes by key people in politics or business pose a significant security policy risk because the identification of artificial influence is difficult to prove or understand,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner on the occasion of the presentation of the action plan.
In order to combat deepfakes even more effectively in the future, an interministerial task force was set up at the end of 2020 under the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior, in which the Federal Chancellery, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also involved. An action plan against deepfakes was drawn up together, which is now available and provides for four fields of action: “Structures and processes”, “Governance”, “Research and development” and “International cooperation”. “This will allow us to combat deepfakes even more specifically and effectively in the future. Because our goal is clear: pull the plug on disinformation and hatred online,” says the Interior Minister.
The action plan can be accessed in full via the link below.
Documents:
- Deepfakes action plan (264 KB)
Source: Federal Ministry of the Interior
Related Mimikama articles on this topic:
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

