Elon Musk sparks controversy by reposting deepfake video of US VP Kamala Harris


By MYBRANDBOOK


Elon Musk sparks controversy by reposting deepfake video of US VP Kamala Harris

Billionaire Elon Musk has shared a digitally altered video of Vice President Kamala Harris. The video, originally released by the Harris campaign, was manipulated to change the voice-over and make Harris appear to say disparaging things about President Biden and herself. The altered video was first posted as a “parody,” but Musk reposted it without any disclaimer. The post has got over 2.38 lakh reposts and over 9.24 lakh likes.

 

Some observers were quick to criticize Musk for sharing misleading content. One user said, "Don’t use AI generated voices to attack candidates. That just opens this all up to something far worse."

 

Another user said, "This is exactly the dangerous kind of misinformation that will undermine the mission of free speech. You are crossing a line! Stop it!"

 

Alex Howard, a digital governance expert, tweeted, “This is a violation of @X’s policies on synthetic media & misleading identities. Are you going to retroactively change them to allow violations in an election year?”

 

Many of Donald Trump supporters have spoken in favour of the video with the deep fake voice of VP Kamala Harris. 

 

The Harris campaign issued a statement condemning the altered video. According to a report by NYT, the statement said, “The American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”

 

Social media platforms have been grappling with how to handle manipulated media. Meta requires that such media be labeled, while Google has a policy requiring disclosure when content might be mistaken for real.

 

The Indian election campaign also saw deepfake videos of prominent politicians. Some politicians willingly used deepfake videos to expand the reach of their campaign, across ethnicities and geographies. 

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