'Protect youngsters from deep fake dangers'

Lawmakers say there is a responsibility to educate young people on the dangers of deep fake technology while ensuring responsible use of electronic devices. This came as the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) held a conference on Thursday to discuss ways to prevent teenagers from getting addicted to their electronic devices. Speakers from universities and schools shared their insights on how students are exposed to electronic devices from an extremely young age — lowering attention spans and putting them at risk to cyberbullying and even suicide. Professor Annis Fung from the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences of City University proposed forming government bureaus specific to internet safety. She also said platforms and schools need to take more responsibility in making sure students' exposure to internet content is controlled. Another issue is deep fake technology. DAB vice chair Holden Chow said regulation is of utmost importance. "I would say we have [a] responsibility to regulate these sorts of problems. At least if we could make an effort to have a whole set of laws to govern these sorts of deep fakes, that is something we should do." Chow said the next steps would be to reference legislation from other places and see what Hong Kong should do. "I'm pretty sure that having heard a lot of advice from these stakeholders ... we believe that we need to do something about it (uncontrolled internet usage amongst youngsters)." Edited by Tony Sabine