The Irish presidential election campaign has been disrupted by an artificial intelligence-generated deepfake video of candidate Catherine Connolly announcing her “withdrawal” from the race.
“It is with great regret that I announce the withdrawal of my candidacy and the ending of my campaign,” a deepfake version of Connolly can be heard saying, in a video that circulated on social media platforms and was saved by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ.
The full video shows an imitation of the RTÉ news report, its new studio, and deepfake versions of presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin and political correspondent Paul Cunningham, announcing the withdrawal and discussing the possible impact.
RTÉ made mention of other deepfake videos, either attacking Connolly or alleging spoiled ballots.
Meta has removed some videos related to Connolly for a violation of its voter interference policy. RTÉ reported that a YouTube channel sharing the videos was removed. Google didn’t comment on a request from POLITICO in time for publication.
The European Commission acknowledged the existence of the Irish deepfake video in a press briefing on Wednesday and said it is tracking the matter.
“We are aware of the deepfake video, we’re in touch with the Irish authorities,” European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said.
Elections are a matter of national competence, he pointed out, but he added that under the EU’s social media law, the Digital Services Act, platforms “must protect the integrity of elections on their services.”
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