From NOTICE News Daily for March 7, 2023
No, President Biden didn’t restart the draft to fight the war in Ukraine. It’s just the latest deepfake that’s gone viral. As deepfakes become more ubiquitous and harder to spot, how can people know what to trust? At a time when trust in the media is already at an alarming low, the rise in deepfakes does not bode well. >> Full story
MORE INFO:
- Here’s the referenced poll from Gallup about Americans’ trust in media being at near-record lows.
TRANSCRIPT
Sound: Biden deepfake: The illegal Russian offensive has been swift, callous, and brutal. ((edit)) I have received guidance from general miller, chairman of the joint chiefs that the recommended way forward will be to invoke the selective service act, as is my authority as president. ((edit)) remember – you are not sending your sons and daughters to war, you are sending them to freedom. God bless our troops and god bless Ukraine.
Jonathan: That’s President Biden announcing that U.S. troops will be sent to Ukraine using the Selective Service Act – the draft… only… it’s not real.
It’s a deepfake – a video clip made using AI tools that can mimic the voice and likeness of anybody.
The clip was created by Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses.
They later identified the clip as a deepfake, saying it was a “sneak peek” at what would happen if the draft were reinstated.
But – the clip has since been re-edited by others without that crucial context, and on this one tweet alone, the video was viewed over 8 million times.
Here’s another one that’s been floating around of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren apparently saying Republicans shouldn’t be able to vote.
SOT: Warren deepfake: Allowing republicans to vote could threaten the integrity of the election and the safety of the electorate ((edit)) for these reasons, it is necessary to restrict republican voting in the 2024 election.
That one isn’t even very convincing, but still, some people fell for it.
As deepfakes continue to improve, it will make it even harder to trust the media — which is already at near-record lows.
A recent Gallup poll says just 7 percent of Americans have “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the media…
And for the first time since Gallup started asking, more people have no trust at all in the media than have a great deal or a fair amount.
But if there’s any silver lining to be had about the rise of deepfakes – it’s that you should be skeptical of what you see and hear, especially on the internet, because social media apps are filled with bad actors.
There are still trusted news sources and institutions – but videos making the rounds online should not be blindly believed, no matter how real they might appear.