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ARTICLE · 05 NOVEMBER 2026

Deepfakes, Digital Evidence And Family Disputes: When Authenticity Becomes An Issue

Withers LLP
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As generative artificial intelligence makes it possible to create highly convincing fabricated content, family disputes face a new challenge: determining the authenticity of digital evidence. From altered photographs and cloned voices to realistic deepfake videos, courts must now examine not only what evidence appears to show, but also where it came from, how it was created, and whether its integrity can be independently verified.

Hong KongLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Jocelyn Tsao
Jocelyn Tsao
Anisha Ramanathan
Anisha Ramanathan
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From WhatsApp messages and emails to photographs, voice notes and video recordings, digital evidence has become a central feature of modern family disputes.

Allegations concerning hidden assets, family violence, parenting arrangements and the conduct of a spouse increasingly turn on electronic records that may appear, at least on their face, to provide an objective account of events.

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence is beginning to challenge that assumption. Advances in AI have made it possible to create highly convincing fabricated content, including altered photographs, cloned voices and realistic videos portraying events that never occurred. At the same time, the proliferation of deepfake technology has created a further complication: parties faced with genuine evidence may seek to dismiss it as artificially generated.

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