Effects of Misinformation

The Political Deepfake

Nowadays, there are many fears about deepfakes being used in politics. In a journal by Andrew Ray published by the University of New South Wales Law Journal, he researches and discusses the effects that deepfakes have had on politicians and their campaigns around the globe. One case Ray discusses is of Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmès where during her election campaign in 2020, a deepfake video of her talking about the link between COVID-19 and global. As with previously discussed cases, the video was proven to be fictitious although some people still believed the video. Ray mentions how deepfakes have circulated of many other politicians such as Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden.

While many deepfakes that are made are for the sake of comedy, a few are also made to discredit these people and seem out of touch with their base. Ray says that this can have grave effects on these politicians, their parties and during elections where even a few misled voters can make or break a victory for either side. Ray takes note of how different digital consumption is compared to just a few years ago and the effect it has had on the public perception of politics. He says “Increasingly, Australians are turning to digital platforms such as Facebook to access news content… The shift to digital content has coincided with decreasing trust in politicians and politics in general. Political deepfakes will further erode trust by allowing candidates to deride real footage as fake news, feeding into increasing claims by politicians that they have been set up”. The adoption of social media networks as news sources has resulted in increasing political distrust. The development of deepfakes can result in further damage if politicians become able to wave off real videos as fake if people don’t know what to believe anymore.

Deepfakes Used Against a Nation

On March 16th, 2022, a deepfake video of Ukrainian president Vladymyr Zalensky telling his soldiers and civilians to lay down their arms and surrender. The video, which is believed to have been created by Russia, was spread around social media. Through hacking, the video was broadcasted on Ukrainian television, and posted on the website of several news outlets. This was one of Russia’s many attempts to demoralize the people of Ukraine through information warfare. The video however, was quickly debunked by the state and proven to be fake. The article says that many people noticed that Zalensky’s accent was “off” and that his head seemed too large for his body. However, the article also notes that while Ukraine was able to get ahead of this video weeks in advance by warning its citizens about the possibility of such videos, the video can have other effects.  In the article, when Bobby questions Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who is an expert in digital media forensics, he states “It pollutes the information ecosystem, and it casts a shadow on all content, which is already dealing with the complex fog of war…The next time the president goes on television, some people might think, ‘Wait a minute — is this real?’ ” When you put this situation in perspective you can realize how much damage that even a debunked deepfake can have. They can have a lingering effect where people will approach everything that they see with skepticism.