Deepfakes pose major risks in the run-up to elections

Running a swift and smooth election in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) could be prove to be a nightmare dressed like a daydream.

As election season looms in the horizon, cybersecurity experts are concerned about the potential threat of deepfakes.

These are digitally-altered videos in which a person’s face, body or voice have been replaced with someone else’s, often for malicious purposes or to spread false information.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report identified AI-generated misinformation and disinformation as the second most significant global risk after extreme weather.

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Swaying public opinion

Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at cybersecurity organisation KnowBe4 Africa was concerned about the rapid rise of AI-empowered deepfakes ahead of the national elections.

“Criminals can create deepfakes impersonating politicians in order to sway public opinion,” Collard said.

She explained that there had been a notable improvement in the quality of deepfakes over the last year, making them more convincing and difficult to identify.

Bearing testament, deepfakes of famous South African news anchors and media personalities recently surfaced on social media platforms.

While many thought the videos were authentic, the victims have since deemed them false.

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‘Don’t believe everything’

Cautioning about the risk of deepfakes in the run-up to this year’s elections, Collard advised voters to be vigilant.

“Don’t believe everything you see or hear on social media,” she said.

“If a politician purportedly said something that’s deeply polarising, it’s important to verify whether they genuinely said it,” she added.

The cybersecurity experts also emphasised the importance of raising awareness around deepfakes in the run-up to elections.

“To combat this form of disinformation and safeguard the democratic process, social media platforms, political parties and independent watchdogs as well as us the public will all need to work together.”

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Countering deepfakes

To counter the risk of deepfakes, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), in collaboration with Media Monitoring Africa, has launched the Padre initiative.

The platform allows voters to fact-check information concerning political parties.

Collard said that voters could also use tools such as Google Reverse Image Search and FotoForensics to verify the authenticity of political videos.

However, she acknowledged that even with such tools, verifying information remained challenging.

“Deepfakes are becoming more convincing, making verifying information even harder,” Collard said.

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