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Hyper-realistic software-manipulated video or audio content, falsely depicting the target’s behavior or speech with the goal of damaging the target’s reputation and/or degradation of dignity.
 

You can claim damages via civil legal procedures if a manipulated video or photo:

causes you harm, has been made for defamatory purposes, or has resulted in financial loss (if your biometric data or voice is manipulated for the purposes of fraud, for example). 

If you have suffered a financial loss because of deep fake or video manipulation, you can utilize civil legal procedures to recover losses. In the case of causing great offense or other form of non-pecuniary damage (to reputation, or psychological harm, for example), you can file a civil law procedure to win compensation. In both cases, you, the filing party, are responsible for providing the identity of the perpetrator.

This type of content is so insidious in that it is difficult to identify (the Director of Facebook is one such example). Some of the clear signs of deep fakes are mechanical/unnatural movements, static eye position (no blinking), and inconsistent movement of the lips while talking. Your risk of being targeted with this type of content decreases the more aware you are of your digital footprint, and by limiting circulation of your biometric data, including photos, video and audio recordings. 

 

Damage Report to platform Reputation

As the result of structural power inequality, false accusations, even if proven untrue, have the potential to inflict serious and lasting reputational damage on the accused. 
 

This type of attack can also be considered a form of pressure on freedom of expression, and it is difficult to ensure protection in this case. 

In the case that a false accusation results in the endangerment of safety, protection under art. 138 of the Criminal Code is available. In this case, public prosecutors and police are mandated to follow up, investigate and responsible for protection. As the filing party, you are responsible for collecting evidence needed for filing the criminal charges. This charge provides stricter sanctions if the target is a (female) journalist.

ADVICE: Explain in detail how, why and when you feel unsafe, and detail your concern for the safety of your family and loved ones. These details could be the key to success when it comes to court proceedings.

For harm suffered in the form of damage to reputation and dignity, compensation may be claimed through civil legal proceedings initiated via a lawsuit. Before initiating this type of lawsuit, the identity of the perpetrator as well as evidence substantiating the claim of identity manipulation and resulting harm must be provided.

Document how false accusations have caused you harm. If accusations have been published online, request that the website or platform remove this information. 

If the amount of content posted becomes too much to collect, ask your friends, and family to help you document false accusations and report them to the websites or platforms. 

Publicly commenting on or calling out  accusations is another way to address the attack, but do a preliminary risk assessment to evaluate the potential for negative reactions and amplification of the false accusations. 

 

Damage Report to platform Reputation Tactic Support Media Criminal charges

Intentional optimization of inaccurate and malicious information on internet search engines (i.e. Google), with the objective of causing damage to the target’s dignity and reputation.

The criminal justice system does not explicitly prohibit this or identify it as a criminal act. From a technical viewpoint, Google bombing does not imply the misuse or manipulation of personal data. Rather it is seen as a misuse of the (Google) search engine. In certain cases, this type of assault can be prosecuted via Unauthorised Access to Computer, Computer Network or Electronic Data Processing (art.302 of the Criminal Code ). In this case, criminal charges, together with collected evidence  (screenshot  of the search results, analysis of the search optimization,etc), should be filed with the police.

For harm suffered in the form of damage to reputation and dignity, compensation may be claimed through civil legal proceedings initiated via a lawsuit. Before initiating this type of lawsuit, the identity of the perpetrator as well as evidence substantiating the claim of identity manipulation and resulting harm must be provided.

Because tools to modify search engine algorithms are widely available, almost anyone can alter search results. For this reason it is quite difficult to prevent or protect yourself from Google bombing.

Google has developed an extension for their search engine - Google Meet Bomb Guard that allows users to block all uninvited participants and generic gmail accounts from organized Google Meet groups.

Take a look at other available search engine extensions  that can help prevent this type of assault. 

Digital evidence Digital hygiene Browser Damage Report to platform Reputation