Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies

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Companies are realising that the issues surrounding Deepfakes are complex, and need careful attention. In September 2019, Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer released a post titled “Creating a dataset and a challenge for Deepfakes”. It lays out an attempt to find a solution by joining with the Partnership on AI, Microsoft, and academics from Cornell Tech, MIT, University of Oxford, UC Berkeley, University of Maryland, College Park, and University at Albany-SUNY to build the Deepfake Detection Challenge (DFDC) and produce technology that is able to tell what is truth, and what is fake. China’s new regulations, called Deep Synthesis Provisions, govern deep synthesis (or deepfake) technology and services, including text, images, audio, and video produced using AI-based models. These new regulations are hardly surprising given China’s long history of attempting to retain strict control over the internet.

Commenting on the results, Lysette Gauna, Head of Brand & Content Marketing at The University of the Law, said: “It’s interesting to see some of the weird and wonderful laws that exist both here at home and all over the world, some of which sound as though they should be completely fictional. And now, some of them are coming forward and telling their stories and some of those are hopeful that since they didn't become rich and famous either because he reneged on the deal or they are talentless and not filmogenic or because it never happened, they never even met the man but who will know that if it isn't brought up in court? And they are selling their stories to the media, truth or lies, that they might even get paid and some measure of fame that might lead to a reality show. Although the anonymous author is (we are assured) a criminal specialist, crime is not the sole focus this time around. The tour d’horizon includes family, personal injury, employment, human rights and the constitution. Lawyers in those fields need no help diagnosing the illness. Where this book succeeds most brilliantly is explaining how much fake law matters and setting the problem in a broader context. Public understanding and appreciation for individual rights have not only been debased, they have been debased to serve ideological ends (“misrepresentation or worse“). In a book ostensibly about the domestic legal system, Donald Trump looms large. In these blinks, you’ll learn how to separate fact from fiction in legal reporting and discover what English law really says about contentious issues like child welfare, immigration, and personal injury compensation. As you unravel some of the most infamous cases from recent legal history, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the laws that govern the lives of British citizens, and appreciate why judges make such controversial decisions.JO’B: You are clearly motivated by a belief that people would not permit this if they understood the gravity of the threat. And it is ‘fake law’ that prevents them from seeing the light in many cases. I wonder whether you have any idea of what a politician like, say, Philip Davies (who pops up once or twice) would consider to be a ‘fair’ trial? He seems certain that many trials today are unfair . . . The Secret Barrister highlights, both articulately and persuasively, the true limitations of the UK legal system alongside the meddling of the media and government to make matters worse ok certain occasions. Not only are the main areas of law covered to give a better understanding to the layman of stories that may have been misconstrued to the public, but clarification is given on how unbalanced legal cuts are to those who truly need legal representation. It is not to say that everything the media and government do are wrong but there are certain areas that need work and that is what this book focuses on.

The Secret Barrister takes many high-profile news stories from the UK press and breaks down the hype the media generated compared to the legal reality in the courtroom. This is done in a comprehensive and easy to understand manner, with elements of humour to grease the wheels along the way. Deepfakes are far from being fun, and while some are for entertainment purposes, there is usually something more nefarious at work. At their very heart, they are forgeries, usually in the form of video content, that have the power to make anyone’s likeness do anything the Deepfake maker decides. Deepfake has the power to put words into people’s mouths.In addition, researchers have shown that these detectors can sometimes be deceived. One study illustrated how detectors could be defeated by inserting adversarial inputs into every video frame. These adversarial examples “are slightly manipulated inputs which cause artificial intelligence systems such as machine learning models to make a mistake.” As the title states, this book is about fake news relating to our justice system that mask the ‘cries of those truly betrayed or failed by the law’. This book gives us ‘snapshots of how the stories we are told about justice, corrupt and warp our understanding’ of our justice system. In Canada, a national law says that thirty-five percent of all popular music played on Canadian stations must be by native artists. However, 60% of those surveyed thought this was a fake law. In the US, 'stand your ground' is a licence to kill any intruder for any reason at all. Or not even an intruder, anyone you reasonably believe intends to harm or kill you. This is the usual police defence when they murder someone or other, especially minorities whom they are always certain were threatening them with (non-existent) guns.

Higher standards of self-regulation of the press that would prevent misreporting of basic facts and the distortion of its context. This situation has developed at the same time as the demise of the trained court reporter. It is almost impossible to engage a criminal lawyer in conversation without being subjected to a tirade about how awful everything is. The legal profession feels it is not only unappreciated but required to preside over a system that is falling apart at the seams. JO’B: Which myth would you most like to strike from the public space? (You are allowed more than one if it’s too hard!) Public legal education, particularly in schools, that would help people to critically analyse any information relating to our justice system.Society only functions if we all abide by common, agreed rules. If we don’t understand our justice system, and if our comprehension is corrupted by misinformation, we can’t properly engage with arguments over its functioning. We can’t critically evaluate its performance, identify its flaws, propose sensible reform or even participate meaningfully in everyday conversation about the stories in the news. Our unfamiliarity also makes us vulnerable to those who would exploit the gaps in our knowledge to push ulterior agendas.” Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: ‘We welcome this flagship bill, which provides the CMA with new powers to do even more to protect people, businesses and support the economy.