Home⇛NRCP Research Journal⇛vol. 25 no. 2 (2026)

Deepfakes and Epistemic Rights: Violations to the Knower and the Known

John Martin Diao

Discipline: social policy

 

Abstract:

Deepfakes, synthetic and ultra-realistic audio, visual, or audio-visual media, pose complex epistemic challenges by undermining individuals as both knowers and knowns. This study examines how deepfakes violate the epistemic rights of individuals using Lani Watson's account of epistemic rights. However, Watson's concept requires expansion to adequately capture individuals not only in their capacity as seekers but also as objects of information. Drawing on Mathias Risse's concept of the epistemic actor, this paper expands the scope of epistemic rights beyond Watson's original formulation to include the role of individuals as epistemic actors: knowers and knowns. This study then offers a contextual analysis of deepfakes by developing a typology along two axes: deception and malice, to account for the purposes and intentions of their creation. The expanded framework is subsequently applied to assess the actual and potential epistemic rights violations associated with deepfakes. The analysis shows that different forms of deepfake creation generate distinct violations of correlative epistemic duties, resulting in primary and secondary epistemic harms. The study concludes by recommending legal regulation, ethical standards, media literacy, and the incorporation of new correlative epistemic duties to address the epistemic threats posed by deepfakes in digital contexts.



References:

  1. Ayyub, R. (2018, November 21). I was the victim of a deepfake porn plot intended to silence me: Rana Ayyub. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/deepfake porn_in_5c1201cfe4b0508b213746bd.
  2. Badshah, N. (2024, March 21). Nearly 4,000 celebrities found to be victims of deepfake pornography. The Guardian. https:// www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/mar/21/ celebrities-victims-of-deepfake-pornography?utm_ source=chatgpt.com.
  3. BBC News. (2015, November 8). ‘Internet meme ruined my career’ BBC News. BBC News. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=7WMebV5qt3s&t=1s.
  4. Bond, S. (2024, December 21). How AI deepfakes polluted elections in 2024. npr. https://www.npr.org/2024/12/21/ nx-s1-5220301/deepfakes-memes-artificial intelligence-elections.
  5. Bray, S. D., Johnson, S. D., & Kleinberg, K. (2023). Testing human ability to detect ‘deepfake’ images of human faces. Journal of Cybersecuity, 9(1), 1-18. https://doi. org/10.1093/cybsec/tyad011.
  6. Cavendon-Taylor, D. (2024). Deepfakes: A survey and introduction to the topical collection. Synthese, 204(14), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-024-04634-8.
  7. Chen, H. & Kathleen Magramo. (2024, February 4). Finance worker pays out $25 milion after video call with deepfake ‘chief financial officer’. CNN World. https://edition.cnn. com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong intl-hnk/index.html.
  8. de Ruiter, Adrienne. (2021). The distinct wrong of deepfakes. Philosophy and Technology, 34, 1311-1332. https://doi. org/10.1007/s13347-021-00459-2.
  9. Döring, N., Dung Le, T., Vowels, L. M., Vowels, M. J., & Marcantonio, T. L. (2025). The impact of artificial intelligence on human sexuality: A five-year literature review 2020-2024. Current Sexual Health Reports, 17(4), 1-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-024-00397-y.
  10. Fallis, D. (2020). The epistemic threat of deepfakes. Philosophy & Technology, 34(4), 623-643. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s13347-020-00419-2.
  11. Finger, L. (2022, September 8). Overview of how to create deepfakes - it’s scarily simple. Forbes. https://www. forbes.com/sites/lutzfinger/2022/09/08/overview-of how-to-create-deepfakesits-scarily-simple/.
  12. George, A. (2024). Defamation in the time of deepfakes. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 45(1), 122-172. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4719803.
  13. Guardian Staff Reporter. (2024, August 22). Company that sent fake Biden robocalls in New Hampshire agrees to $1m fine. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/ technology/article/2024/aug/22/fake-biden-robocalls fine-lingo-telecom.
  14. Habgood-Coote, J. (2022). The rights to know: Epistemic rights, and why we need them. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 100(2), 426-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/00 048402.2021.2010105.
  15. Habgood-Coote, J. (2023). Deepfakes and the epistemic apocalypse. Synthese, 201(103): 1-23. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11229-023-04097-3.
  16. Kerner, C. & Risse, M. (2021). Beyond porn and discreditation: Epistemic promises and perils of deepfake technology in digital lifeworlds. Moral Philosophy and Politics, 8(1), 81-108. https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2020-0024.
  17. Lackey, J. (2022). Epistemic reparations and the right to be known. Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, 96, 54-89. https://philarchive. org/archive/LACQRA.
  18. Laffier, J. & Rehman, A. (2023). Deepfakes and harm to women. Journal of Digital Life and Learning, 3(1), 1-21. https:// doi.org/10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218.
  19. Lewis, A., Vu, P., Duch, R. M., & Chowdhuury, A. (2023). Deepfake detection with and without content warnings. Royal Society Open Science, 10(11), 1-13. https://doi. org/10.1098/rsos.231214.
  20. Magramo, K. (2024, May 17). British engineering giant Arup revealed deepfake scam victim. CNN Business. https:// edition.cnn.com/2024/05/16/tech/arup-deepfake scam-loss-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html.
  21. Matthews, T. & Kidd, J. (2024). The ethics and epistemology of deepfakes. In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Media Ethics, by Carl Fox and Joe Saunders. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003134.
  22. Öhman, C. (2020). Introducting the pervert’s dilemma: A contribution to the critique of deepfake pornography.” Ethics and Information Technology, 22(2), 133-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-019-09522-1.
  23. Penalizing Deepfake Act, H.B. no. 9425, 19th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. 2023.
  24. Payne, L. (2023, August 23). deepfake. Britannica. https://www. britannica.com/technology/deepfake.
  25. Rini, R. & Cohen, L. (2022). Deepfakes, deep harms. Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, 22(2), 143-161. https://doi. org/10.26556/jesp.v22i2.1628.
  26. Rini, R. (2020). Deepfakes and the epistemic backstop. Philosopher’s Imprint, 20(24), 1-16. http:/hdl.handle. net/2027/spo.3521354.0020.024.
  27. Risse, M. (2021). The fourth generation of human rights: Epistemic rights in digital lifeworlds. Moral Philosophy and Politics, 8(2), 351-378. https://doi.org/10.1515/ mopp-2020-0039.
  28. Romano,  A. (2019, October 8). Deepfakes are a real political threat. For now, though, they’re mainly used to degrade women. Vox. https://www.vox. com/2019/10/7/20902215/deepfakes-usage-youtube 2019-deeptrace-research-report.
  29. Watson, L., Horowitz, A., Nieminen, H., Lehtisaari, K. & D’Arma, A. (2024). Conclusion: Ubiquitous need for epistemic rights and the way forward. In Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Disruption, by Minna Aslama Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen, Katja Lehtisaari, and Alessandro D’Arma, 205 219. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978 3-031-45976-4.
  30. Watson, L. (2018). Systematic epistemic rights violations in the media. Social Epistemology, 32(2), 88-102. https://doi.or g/10.1080/02691728.2018.144002.
  31. Watson, L. (2021). The right to know: Epistemic rights and why we need them. New York: Routledge. https://doi. org/10.4324/9780429438.
  32. Watson, L. (2023). The right to know: Response to commentaries. Notizie di POLITEIA, 39(149): 134-138. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367808

Tools


Copyright © 2026  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic