Spain Enforces AI Regulation, Imposes Fines On Unlabelled Deepfakes

Spain has approved an AI bill under the EU AI Act, imposing penalties for unlabelled AI-generated content, including deepfakes.

Under the new regulation, AI-generated or manipulated content depicting real or fictional individuals must be clearly labelled before first exposure. Spain’s Ministry of Digital Transformation stated that failure to comply would be considered a serious infringement. The bill allows fines of up to 35 million euros or 7% of a company’s global turnover for improper labelling. It also mandates human supervision for AI systems using biometrics in surveillance and industrial sectors.

The EU AI Act, introduced in 2021 and passed in March 2024, came into force in August 2024 and will be fully applicable by August 2026.