Italian Senator Giulio Terzi raises concerns over China using deepfakes, tech espionage

Italian Senator Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata has raised alarm over China's use of deepfake technology, espionage via Chinese-made devices, and the leveraging of its cultural institutions for propaganda purposes.

During a seminar titled “Hong Kong: Beijing's expansion to stifle dissent globally,” held at the Italian Senate, last week, the senator gave the example of a Ukrainian student at the University of Pennsylvania who discovered a deep fake video of herself speaking Mandarin, selling products, and propagating anti-Western messages.

Such manipulative tactics, according to Terzi, mirror China’s modus operandi, which people of Hong Kong and Taiwan have long been acquainted with. He highlighted the case of a Taiwanese woman who found footage of the earthquake recorded by her home security camera on a Chinese social media platform, emphasising the infiltration of Chinese-made devices into Taiwan.

Addressing the economic relationship between the European Union (EU) and China, Terzi pointed out that it is not balanced, and lopsided for the union. “The EU and China are the main economic partners with 2.3 billion euros of trade goods per day. However, with an EU trade deficit of almost 400 billion euros, this ratio is critically and structurally unbalanced,” he remarked.

He also emphasised the importance of China honouring its commitments in Hong Kong and welcomed the EU's efforts to engage in dialogue on human rights issues with China. “The EU reiterated its deep concerns about the human rights situation in China, especially violations of systematic human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, the workforce, the treatment of human rights defenders and women people belonging to minorities, as well as the continued erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, where China should honour its previous commitments,” Senator Terzi stated.

Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, who has served as Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the United States, expressed concern about the role of Chinese cultural institutions, such as the Confucius Institutes, accusing them of spreading Chinese propaganda and censorship.

“They present to our young people the narrative produced by the Chinese Communist Party, which aims not only to rewrite history but to eradicate and erase different cultures, especially democratic ones, by manipulating maps of China with Taiwan or misrepresenting the reality of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet,” he warned.

(With inputs from agencies)