Denmark Cracks Down On AI Deepfakes While Meta Hands You The Tools To Make Them

Summary: Here is a gist of the article: This article explores the growing tension between regulation and innovation in the age of AI. While Denmark introduces groundbreaking legislation allowing individuals to copyright their own facial features and voice to combat deepfake misuse, Meta is simultaneously launching “AI Twin,” a tool enabling users to create digital clones of themselves. The piece examines how these opposing developments reflect deeper legal, ethical, and societal questions about identity, consent, and ownership in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes how we create, consume, and even replicate ourselves, a sharp global divide is emerging. On one end, Denmark has taken a pioneering legal stance to clamp down on the misuse of deepfake technology. On the other hand, Meta—the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has introduced “AI Twin,” a tool allowing users to create hyper-realistic digital versions of themselves. The clash between regulation and innovation has never been more stark. In addition to Meta's AI Twin, several other tools are now enabling users to create lifelike digital avatars. Captions.ai offers an AI Twin feature that lets users generate a realistic video avatar using just a short script and their facial data, ideal for content creators and influencers. Similarly, Character.ai's mobile app allows users to interact with or roleplay as custom AI personas, some based on themselves through chat-based interfaces. These tools are making personalized AI avatars more accessible, blurring the line between self-expression and synthetic replication.

On June 27, 2025, Denmark became the first country to give individuals the right to copyright their own facial features and voice. Under this proposed law, any unauthorized use of a person's likeness through generative AI, especially for deepfakes, would be treated as a direct copyright violation. It's a revolutionary attempt to protect personal identity in an age where anyone's face can be convincingly manipulated with a few clicks.

The urgency of this law is not hypothetical. Deepfakes have evolved from novelty internet memes to weapons of misinformation, harassment, and political interference. Public figures—especially women—have faced repeated violations through synthetic pornography. With AI improving faster than regulators can respond, Denmark's law aims to give citizens a new legal shield.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometres away and on a completely different trajectory, Meta is rolling out a new tool that does the very thing Denmark seeks to regulate. With a few selfies and a bit of voice training, Meta's AI Twin feature - lets users clone their own digital selves. It can talk, mimic facial expressions, and even interact with friends in chat threads. Think of it as an upgraded avatar, eerily lifelike and increasingly independent.

From Meta's perspective, AI Twins are part of the company's broader bet on the “AI social future.” Why send a text when your AI self can deliver a message for you—complete with your voice and smirk? Meta argues it puts creative power back in the hands of users. But are we convinced? Reading the posts by a

There are several questions. If someone screenshots or screen-records your AI twin and repurposes it, who owns that content? Can it be shared, remixed, or monetized? And does clicking “agree” on Meta's user terms quietly give the company license to store, train on, and profit from your digital likeness? As with many Big Tech innovations, consent is often buried in legalese.

This is precisely where Denmark's law draws the line. Under its framework, consent is explicit, ownership is personal, and violations are actionable. If passed and enforced robustly, it could set a new benchmark for how countries define identity in the digital age. It may also influence EU-wide regulation, as the bloc continues updating its AI Act and Digital Services Act.

The contrast couldn't be sharper. One jurisdiction wants to empower individuals to lock down their identity like intellectual property; the other wants to normalize digital cloning as the next step in social interaction. Denmark sees danger. Meta sees opportunity.

Yet, the real story lies in what this means for everyday users. On the surface, both initiatives offer empowerment: Denmark gives you legal control; Meta gives you expressive tools. But combined, they reveal a growing tension between our desire to participate in digital life and our right to remain sovereign over our image. If one ponders deeper, as Raghu Karnad, journalist who posted on Instagram about this, also did and said “it will make you redundant, substitutable down the level of your voice, personality and thoughts”. His conversation with the Instagram's bot further went on to say – humans (you) are the underlying data, but Meta would own the 'model' of you, which overtime would became 'increasingly detailed' and while also predicting our/your patterns.

As generative AI becomes indistinguishable from reality, this tension will only deepen. Whether you see AI twins as playful tech or a privacy minefield where one's individuality becomes redundant, one thing is clear: the era of casual identity is over. You now need to choose not just what you post, but who you let speak for you—even if it looks and sounds like you.

Author is a practicing advocate. Views Are Personal.