<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656188557587,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-7410-df17-a7ff-7edd9d280000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656188557587,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-7410-df17-a7ff-7edd9d280000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_56105433", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1039977"} }); ","_id":"00000181-9c87-df44-ad8b-dfef647c0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe mayors of numerous European cities have admitted to being fooled by a deepfake of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko in video calls.
Franziska Giffey, the mayor of Berlin was the latest victim on Friday. Giffey said she spoke to someone in a video call whom she thought looked and sounded like the Ukrainian mayor. However, she got suspicious during the call when it appeared Klitschko was asking for the Ukrainian refugees in Germany to be returned to Ukraine to help defend the country against the Russian invasion.
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“There were no signs that the video conference call wasn’t being held with a real person,” Giffey’s office said, according to the Guardian.
The office said the deepfake was confirmed during a break in the call when the office reached out to the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, who confirmed with Kyiv officials that the call was a fake. Deepfakes are created by an artificial intelligence method called “deep learning” to create fake videos of famous or historic people to fool others. In the age of social media, deepfakes can be used to show politicians giving fake speeches.
“It is sadly the reality that the war is being waged with all sorts of means, including on the net, to undermine trust by digital means and discredit the partners and allies of Ukraine,” Giffey said.
The office of Madrid’s mayor said the staff was also a victim of the deepfake. However, Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida was suspicious right away and ended the call, his spokesman Daniel Bardavio Colebrook told the outlet. The office has filed a complaint with authorities over the call.
The mayor of Austria’s capital city, Vienna, was a victim as well, according to his administration. The mayor, Michael Ludwig, held a video conference with whom he believed was Klitschko on Wednesday, according to a now-deleted tweet. A new tweet from his administration said all tweets about Ludwig’s call would be deleted as the administration investigates the cybercrime, which has been a rising problem in Europe for several years.
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European politicians were duped by deepfakes last year after a duo of pranksters posed as high-ranking members of Russia’s opposition party. Although claiming to be Leonid Volkov, one member of the duo only used makeup and camera angles to fake politicians due to his natural resemblance to the Russian official. The two were able to fool Elton John, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), according to the Verge.
The use of deepfakes is not illegal in the United States on the federal level, though using the technology to commit a crime is illegal. Some states, however, have established laws that ban the use of deepfakes for specific reasons. California has banned the use of deepfakes of politicians within six months of an election.
The identity of the person behind the recent deepfake has not been revealed.
