Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Politics, porn and toxic world of deepfake

Deepfakes are videos produced through the use of artificial intelligence. Melding images and sound, using things like face grafts, body transfers or voice imitations, they make people appear to say things they never said and do things they never did. They appear so real it is often difficult to tell if they are fake.
For now, the vast majority of deepfakes, 96 percent to be more precise, target women, mostly celebrities, where one woman's face is placed to appear on another's body, many times in the making of fake pornographic videos.

Bill Posters, digital artist and researcher, explained to The Listening Post's Tariq Nafi that: "It's women's bodies, identities and rights that are being transgressed and oppressed basically by quite a small but quite a prolific body of actors that are taking famous celebrity female actor's faces and transplanting those into pornography scenes, and there are huge websites that profit millions of dollars from displaying and sharing and streaming these kinds of deep fake pieces of pornography."

The bigger concern is this: Deepfakes could be used to spread misinformation, mess with politics, and manipulate electorates by fooling journalists and voters. And there are real-life examples already playing out across the world.

Take Gabon, where there were suspicions that all was not OK with President Ali Bongo. Having been abroad for medical treatment he had not been seen in public for months. Reports of his good health did nothing to convince the public so the government released a video.

But something about the video did not add up. Bongo's eyes barely moved or blinked. He stared off camera, his body and hands seemed rigid and unnatural. The video looked fake, fake enough for Gabon's military to attempt a coup - that is how easily a deepfake can be used to destabilise an entire nation.

In this new era of democratised access to video synthesis, deepfakes are not all that hard to produce. So what happens when those with serious technical know-how get in on the act?

Posters has done exactly that, harvesting the biometric data of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. Creating a synthesised video of both men endorsing each other for prime minister.

The frighteningly real results are a statement on some of the most pressing issues of our time: Data, our right to privacy, and, as British voters went to the polls, the integrity of the democratic process.

Henry Ajder, head of Communications and Research Analysis at Deeptrace explained that: "The mere idea of deepfakes alone is enough to, kind of destabilise political processes and poison the collective water that is media. We rely on audio visual media every day to inform us about what's going on in the world. If deepfakes become commonplace, as we anticipate they will, you know, that will lead to, I believe, quite a significant level of disruption'"

Feature contributors:

Henry Ajder - head of Communications and Research Analysis, Deeptrace

Britt Paris - assistant professor of Library and Information Science, Rutgers University

Bill Posters - digital artist and Researcher
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
×