The DEEP-PRISMA project empirically investigates the societal impact of harmful and abusive deepfakes. It also analyzes the effectiveness of existing legal frameworks and measures for dealing with deepfakes. Sexualized, defamatory, and fraudulent deepfakes in particular not only pose legal and ethical challenges, but must also be understood as a sociocultural phenomenon that reproduces historically entrenched hierarchies of power and gender structures.

ITAS integrates this social dimension into the conceptual framework of the research project. In focus group discussions (especially with school students and young adults as potentially highly affected groups), detailed contextual and procedural knowledge is gathered on perceptions, experiences, and coping strategies in dealing with deepfakes.

On this basis, a Deepfake Action Kit is developed in a collaborative process. It provides target group-specific recommendations for action as well as practical information on initiatives and points of contact for individuals affected by deepfake-based attacks. These proactive mitigation measures aim to strengthen the resilience of potentially affected individuals. In addition, existing prevention and education approaches are taken into account in order to implement findings on the integration of affected individuals and effective awareness formats.

In summary, the overarching objectives of the DEEP-PRISMA project can be assigned to three thematic fields:

1. Supporting citizens in exercising their fundamental right to informational self-determination and other protective rights when using communication technologies.
2. Empirically investigating the consequences of abusive deepfakes for citizens and the effectiveness of existing rights and regulatory frameworks.
3. Collaboratively developing recommendations to improve the enforcement of existing regulations and to advance additional legislative and complementary societal measures.

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