Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content (marcatura ed etichettatura dei contenuti generati o manipolati dall'IA)

To meet the legal requirements of labelling in a clear and distinguishable manner at the latest at the time of first exposure under Article 50(5) AI Act and considering the dissemination of published text and deep fakes in particular across online platforms or search engines in both offline and online environments, Signatories will apply the placement specifications described in this measure.

Sub-measure 1.2.1: Overarching principles for placement specifications Signatories will apply the following overarching principles applicable to all content modalities and contexts, with the exception of deep fakes that are part of artistic, creative, satirical, fictional or analogous works that are subject to specific disclosure regime specified in Commitment 3:

a) Considering the content format and dissemination context, the icon or equivalent label will be placed in an appropriate and perceivable manner that ensures immediate recognition by natural persons without requiring user (inter)action or sustained attention.

b) The icon or equivalent label will remain visible at least for a sufficient duration to be noticed under normal exposure conditions to ensure perceivability.

c) The icon or equivalent label will be directly embedded into the content, unless equivalent alternatives to an embedded icon are available (e.g., a user interface overlay that for natural persons appears to be on the content), as long as Signatories follow the placement specifications in this measure and, to their best effort aim to ensure disclosure of the deep fake or published text takes into account the distribution and dissemination chain of the content.

d) The icon or equivalent label will be clearly perceivable and distinguishable at the latest at the time of first exposure of a natural person to the deep fake or published text (e.g., by maintaining sufficient spacing to other overlay elements, disclaimers, and sound/visual on-screen/on-display elements and remain visible against any background). Signatories are encouraged to collaborate on a best effort basis with actors whose services or products they use to further distribute or disseminate the deep fake or published text (e.g., publishers, online platforms or retail) to preserve the icon or equivalent label with the objective

of ensuring that the required disclosure accompanies the deep fake or published text throughout its further distribution, whether online or offline and across the entire content creation, distribution and dissemination chain. This encouragement also applies to disclosures pursuant to Commitments 3 and 4 of this Section of the Code.

Sub-measure 1.2.2: Placement specifications where visual disclosure is possible In addition to the overarching principles, Signatories will implement the following placement specifications where visual disclosure is possible:

a) The icon or equivalent label will appear in an appropriate place where no intervening overlay elements exist (e.g., in the top right corner of an image or video deep fake).

b) To account for situations where different natural persons may be exposed to deep fake video at different moments (e.g., live content) and to account for downstream use (e.g., screenshots and clipped fragments), Signatories will display the icon or equivalent label at the beginning of the video as well as, where possible, at regular intervals throughout the video and, at a minimum, after interruptions (e.g., after commercial or advertising breaks). Where possible and appropriate depending on the context, Signatories are furthermore encouraged to display the icon or equivalent label throughout the deep fake video or during the deep fake part of the video, where the deep fake segment does not necessarily span the entire duration of the video.

c) Where a deep fake is exclusively used as part of a closed internal professional context (e.g., for the purpose of training or informing employees), the disclosure may be placed in the user interface, physical setting or any other appropriate medium readily available to the natural persons exposed to the deep fake, informing them before being exposed to the deep fake, as long as it is clear and distinguishable for the natural persons involved in the professional setting.

d) For visual deep fakes, audible disclosures may only be implemented as an additional disclosure method and will always be accompanied by visual disclosures (e.g., where audio is part of the user experience or as appropriate for accessibility purposes).

e) For audio deep fakes, when a screen is available, an additional visual disclosure based on the icon or equivalent label will be made available (e.g., when a screen is available in a car or on a smartphone display), in addition to the audible disclaimer.

f) For published text, Signatories will place the icon or equivalent label, for example above or at the top of the text, near the headline of the text, or in the colophon at the beginning of the text, as long as placement is clear, consistent, and distinguishable for the end-user. Where appropriate, Signatories may label only that part of the text which is AI-generated or manipulated. For short text (single words or brief phrases), where labelling the text outputs would degrade readability and usability, Signatories must still carry out the labelling but may ensure disclosure through a contextual notice in the user interface (e.g., an indicator adjacent to the output, or disclosing that AI is used in the beginning of a user exposure session or when first time interacting with the content).

Sub-measure 1.2.3: Placement specifications where visual disclosure is not possible In addition to the overarching principles, where visual disclosure is not possible, Signatories will include an audible disclaimer at the latest at the time of the first exposure to the deep fake. Additionally, audible cues may be used (e.g., tones or earcons) to support recognition.

In order to cater for downstream use (e.g., clipped audio fragments) and for long-form or live exposure, Signatories will, where appropriate, supplement the initial audible disclaimer at the beginning of the content with reminders at regular intervals (e.g., disclaimers, tones or earcons) for the entire duration of the audio deep fake to ensure ongoing awareness, and at minimum after interruptions (e.g., by advertisements).