Meta has been forced to take down a deepfake created of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after it went viral on Russian channels. The deepfake consisted of doctored footage of Zelensky in which he appeared to call on the military to lay down their arms. The deepfake was allegedly used by Russia to spread disinformation among its citizens. The takedown was announced via Twitter late Wednesday. The video was found to violate policies against manipulated media, enabling the platform to take it down.
It has been reported that the site in which the deepfake originated was Russian language Ukrainian news site Segodnya. The text reported the same fake news appearing on a news ticker during TV broadcast on Ukraine 24. Zelensky moved quickly to dispel the false information, taking to Telegram to post his own message. The incident illuminates the risks deepfakes can have on global risks and the spread of misinformation during times of crises. It shows how malicious the doctored videos can be and the implications they have, especially as the technology to create them is becoming more advanced and affordable.
Read More: Russia Uses Deepfake of Zelensky to Spread Disinformation
