YouTube, Meta, and other global social media (SNS) corporations have begun regulating non-original content created by artificial intelligence (AI). As the number of fake news exploiting generative AI technology increases and low-quality videos surge, they are taking steps to cleanse the ecosystem.
According to foreign media such as TechCrunch, Meta announced that it will significantly strengthen its crackdown on 'non-creative content' on Facebook starting from the 14th (local time). Sanctions will be fully applied to accounts that repeatedly reuse others' text, images, videos, or operate impersonation accounts, including reducing the spread of posts and limiting revenue generation. They expressed their determination to strengthen platform quality management through regulations on low-quality content, dubbed 'AI slop,' which is mass-produced due to the proliferation of AI technology.
Meta stated that among the monthly active users on Facebook from January to March this year, about 3% were fake accounts, and measures were taken against 1 billion fake accounts during this period. Among them, 10 million accounts impersonating famous content creators were deleted, and 500,000 accounts that induced spammy activities or 'fake engagement' had their comment exposure reduced and content distribution limited. However, reused content accompanied by creative interpretations, such as simple reaction videos or participation in trending content, will be excluded from the crackdown. Meta also explained that it is testing a feature to add 'original link' at the bottom of duplicate content to provide legitimate views and rewards to original creators.
Earlier, YouTube announced similar measures on the 10th (local time). Starting from the 15th, YouTube will revise its 'YouTube Partner Program' policy and implement a policy excluding insincere content, such as mass-produced videos and other types of repetitive content, from monetization. When the new policy is implemented, only original content featuring genuine human voices will be eligible for monetization. Videos that read Wikipedia content using AI voices, merely list slide images, are similar format repetitive AI news videos, or consist solely of mechanically combined AI images and music will not earn advertising revenue.
YouTube's decision is influenced by the 'Diddy trial videos' that emerged last month. Over the past few months, videos depicting American rapper Diddy testifying in court circulated on YouTube, but they were all generated by AI. According to The Guardian, these contents were uploaded through 26 channels and cumulatively reached 70 million views. The creation of such content is driven by advertising revenue based on views. A creator who teaches YouTube revenue generation strategies stated, "'Diddy slop' is currently an easy way to make money on YouTube."
The recent regulatory actions by global SNS corporations are due to the excessive amount of non-original content created by generative AI. Such videos, referred to as 'AI slop', overlay voice generated by AI technology over images or video clips. Particularly, 'AI slop' has rapidly spread with the proliferation of AI video production software such as Midjourney, Google VEO, and OpenAI's DALL-E. Global SNS corporations have determined that these videos, which record millions of views on SNS, undermine platform credibility. According to the market research firm Tubefilter, among the 50 channels that saw the largest increase in YouTube subscribers last month, eight channels posted AI-generated videos as Shorts.
As technology advances to the point where it is difficult to distinguish between real and AI-generated videos, global SNS corporations are offering various solutions to content creators. Meta urged content creators to focus on meaningful storytelling rather than merely stitching clips together or adding watermarks. They emphasized providing high-quality subtitles and advised against using automatically generated subtitles by AI. YouTube is also expected to require content creators to clearly demonstrate their 'personal contributions' and 'creativity' in the future.