Other conflicts and political leaders may be less fortunate, and could be more vulnerable to disruption by deepfakes, says Sam Gregory, who works on deepfakes policy at the nonprofit Witness.
Zelensky’s high profile helped Ukraine’s deepfake warning two weeks ago win international news coverage, and it also helped his quick response on Wednesday to spread rapidly. His prominence may also have prompted a quick response to the video from social networking companies. Meta spokesperson Aaron Simpson declined to say how it detected the video; so did YouTube’s Choi. The statement provided by Twitter’s Kennedy credited unspecified “external investigative reporting.”
Not all people targeted by deepfakes will be able to react as nimbly as Zelensky—or find their repudiation so widely trusted. “Ukraine was well positioned to do this,” Gregory says. “This is very different from…
