Major social media platforms have been used to spread disinformation ahead of previous elections.
Deepfakes use machine learning to manipulate source material and create hyperrealistic content where a person – such as a political candidate – appears to say or do something they did not. US intelligence agencies say there was an extensive Russian cyber-influence operation dring the 2016 presidential election aimed at helping Republican President Donald Trump get elected. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations.
There has not been a well-crafted deepfake video with major political consequences in the United States, but the potential for doctored videos to sow misinformation was recently highlighted by a more manually doctored viral clip of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, slowed down to make her speech seem slurred.