Chile approves anti-deepfake bill

Chile’s Chamber of Deputies approved the bill in general that regulates AI-generated content and specifically sanctions deepfakes, with 128 votes in favor, 2 against and 5 abstentions. The proposal, known as the anti-deepfake bill, returned to the Future, Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation Committee to continue its legislative process.

What does the anti-deepfake bill seek to regulate?

The bill is intended to set rules for content created with artificial intelligence, especially realistic but false digital recreations of a real person’s image, body or voice. According to G5 Noticias coverage, it also includes a penalty framework with significant fines in the event of violations, although that point still has to be debated in committee.

The proposal enters a broader legislative debate over disinformation, automation and the use of digital technologies. At the same time, the Senate reported on another bill aimed at penalizing the digital manipulation of public opinion and the use of bot farms, and sent it to the Constitution Committee.

What other bills show Chile’s regulatory shift?

The debate over deepfakes and bots is unfolding alongside other initiatives on security and technology controls. In telecommunications, the Chamber of Deputies approved the Senate’s amendments to bill 16,598, which bans the manufacture, sale, import, export, use, possession and carrying of signal jammers, and sent the measure to the executive for enactment.

Altona Spain News also reported on a bill dealing with electronic devices capable of intercepting, interfering with or disrupting telecommunications signals. That proposal is part of the security agenda and establishes criminal penalties and fines for unauthorized manufacture, sale, acquisition, use, possession or carrying.

Emol, meanwhile, reported that senators dropped the phone interception proposal during debate on the security reform. The same report said the reform was still being discussed in committee, which confirms that the discussion over interception and digital security is still open.

What is happening with the personal data law?

Available coverage also shows progress, although delayed, in implementing Chile’s new personal data protection law. Publimetro Chile said the delay is, in political and operational terms, because the agency responsible for enforcing the law has not yet been established, softening the executive branch’s argument that more time is needed.

That situation adds to reports describing a possible extension under review for the entry into force of the data framework, with companies getting more time to adapt processes and compliance. Taken together, Chile’s legislative agenda is opening simultaneous fronts on privacy, synthetic content, disinformation and communications control.