Facebook Takes Down Deepfake Video Showing Ukranian President Capitulating

Experts said the deepfake video could be a harbinger of more sophisticated deceptions to come.

By Reuters | Updated: 17 March 2022 10:00 IST

Facebook Takes Down Deepfake Video Showing Ukranian President Capitulating

Photo Credit: Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (pictured) in an older address to Russians from Kyiv

Highlights

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was shown in a deepfake video on Wednesday
Deepfakes can digitally graft one person's face onto another's body
Experts have warned it could be a harbinger of sophisticated deceptions

A poorly edited video purporting to show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly capitulating to Russian demands drew widespread ridicule on Wednesday, but experts said it could be a harbinger of more sophisticated deceptions to come. The video appeared to show an ashen-faced Zelenskiy speaking from the presidential lectern and urging his countrymen to down their weapons in the face of Russian invaders.

It is not clear whether anyone was convinced. Internet users immediately flagged the discrepancies between the skin tone on Zelenskiy's neck and face, the odd accent in the video, and the pixelation around his head. A Facebook official later said the company was removing the footage from its platform.

1/ Earlier today, our teams identified and removed a deepfake video claiming to show President Zelensky issuing a statement he never did. It appeared on a reportedly compromised website and then started showing across the internet.
— Nathaniel Gleicher (@ngleicher) March 16, 2022

Nina Schick, the author of "Deepfakes," said the video looked like "an absolutely terrible faceswap," referring to programs that can digitally graft one person's face onto another's body -- part of a wider family of computer techniques that can create hyperrealistic forgeries known as "deepfakes."

Television station Ukraine24 said in a Facebook post that the video was broadcast by "enemy hackers" and was "FAKE! FAKE!" The station could not immediately be reached for further detail and Ukraine's cyber watchdog agency did not immediately return messages seeking comment. But Ukraine's Ministry of Defense later released a video from the real Zelenskiy apparently dismissing the footage as a "childish provocation."

"We are not going to lay down any weapons until our victory," he said.

Ukrainian officials have been warning of the danger of deepfakes, especially after Moscow's forces were denied a quick victory on the battlefield following their February 24 invasion.

Two weeks ago, Ukraine's military intelligence agency put out a short video alerting the country to the danger of deepfakes, alleging that the Kremlin was preparing a stunt involving one.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Schick called the fake Zelenskiy video "very crude," but warned that the it was a matter of time before the technology became more accessible.

"Expect fakes like this to become easier to produce while appearing highly authentic," she said.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we dive into Apple's Peek Performance event. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.