Posted on 03/16/2022 10:21:00 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A fake and heavily manipulated video depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy circulated on social media and was placed on a Ukrainian news website by hackers Wednesday before it was debunked and removed.
The video, which shows a rendering of the Ukrainian president appearing to tell his soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender the fight against Russia, is a so-called deepfake that ran about a minute long.
It is not yet clear who created the deepfake, but government officials in Ukraine have been warning for weeks about the possibility of Russia spreading manipulated videos as part of its information warfare. Ukraine's military intelligence agency released a video this month about how state-sponsored deepfakes could be used to sow panic and confusion.
While the video shows a passable lip-sync, viewers quickly pointed out that Zelenskyy's accent was off and that his head and voice did not appear authentic upon close inspection.
Officials at Facebook, YouTube and Twitter said the video was removed from their platforms for violating policies. On Russian social media, meanwhile, the deceptive video was boosted.
"This is the first one we've seen that really got some legs, but I suspect it's the tip of the iceberg," said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who is an expert in digital media forensics.
A deepfake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling on his soldiers to lay down their weapons was reportedly uploaded to a hacked Ukrainian news website today, per @Shayan86 pic.twitter.com/tXLrYECGY4
— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) March 16, 2022 In a video posted to his Telegram channel, Zelenskyy responded to the fake video by saying: "We are defending our land, our children, our families. So we don't plan to lay down any arms. Until our victory."
The message was not just displayed across social media, however. It also appeared briefly on television in Ukraine and on a news broadcaster's website.
The national television station Ukraine 24 confirmed that hackers managed to send the fake Zelenskyy message across live television on the scrolling-text news crawl known as "the ticker," and the video showed up briefly on the news station's website. It was the work of "enemy hackers," the station said.
The messages the hackers managed to broadcast through Ukraine 24 urged Ukrainians to stop fighting and give up their weapons. They also falsely stated that Zelenskyy had fled Kyiv, according to the Atlantic Council's Eurasia researcher Roman Osadchuk.
The messages were amplified on VKontakte, the social network comparable to Facebook that is popular in Russia and controlled by allies of the Kremlin, Osadchuk noted.
Researchers said that despite the deepfake not being particularly sophisticated, it should still be considered dangerous.
"The deepfake is not very well done," said Sam Gregory of the human rights group Witness, which specializes in detecting inauthentic media in crises.
He said the Ukrainian government getting out in front of the deepfake by warning about manipulated videos weeks before this one was released, as well as Zelenskyy himself quickly saying it was a fake, helped slow its spread in the West, but it is possible that lower-quality versions of the video could take on a life of their own in other parts of the world.
"If you look at other contexts globally where the deepfake is poor quality, or of good enough quality to create room for doubt, and it's not so easy to challenge it directly," Gregory said.
Furthermore, the video, regardless of where it came from and its quality, could potentially make some people question the veracity of videos of Zelenskyy in the future, researchers said.
"The particular issue is also around the so-called liar's dividend, where it's easy to claim a true video is falsified and place the onus on people to prove it's authentic," Gregory said.
Farid added: "It pollutes the information ecosystem, and it casts a shadow on all content, which is already dealing with the complex fog of war," he said. "The next time the president goes on television, some people might think, 'Wait a minute — is this real?' "
A Twitter spokeswoman said the company will allow the video in instances where it was shared to expose it as a fake. But if the video is being posted to deceive people, it will be taken down, the company said.
What NPR is doing here is pimping a fake they don’t like while ignoring the tidal wave who’s narrative they like
So much crap
You can only listen to 1-2% of media and internet and the cabal would love to squash that tiny light
“You would not BELIEVE how stupid most of those people are.”
More stupid than Quora?
“She said Pelosi and Romney have children making money in Ukraine. Someone on FR yesterday made that assertion and was contradicted immediately by someone else. What is the truth?”
Because that part of history got re-written after Putin attacked Ukraine.
Jao Bai-din.
Jao Bai-din continually broadcasting from a television studio set built to look like the White House and never broadcasting from the White House.
...in't no one got better Deep fakes.
Wow, she should be careful starting her car.
Are you saying this war is FAKE???
I believe he is referring to all of the fake news/propaganda that is being generated.
The war isn’t necessarily fake, but a lot of the “reporting” on it is.
Problem with leftists and neocons is not so much Pooties aggression as he’s the anti globalist culture war anti christ to them
Bookmark!
shouting out there~
Wow....Lara Logan is really shouting.....interesting!
Not anymore. The video has disappeared.
A friend of ours is from Ukraine. They said they can’t believe anything on our news. And their friends still in Ukraine (many have fled with what their car could carry) are even more confused/wary about what is really going on.
Not surprised to see your comment. We spent some time with people who have relatives in the Ukraine with whom they are in regular contact. They have been told not to believe anything on the ‘news’ as it’s almost all garbage and fabrication.
I commented, what else can be expected? We have witnessed a phony US President, a phony/fraud election, a fake pandemic and now a phony war.
Amazing that we have heard about how brutal Russia is but they have still not taken down internet, TV, or heat.
They could do that, but they haven’t.
Hard to bully Lara. She calls them like she sees them.
Some of the gal journos are just jealous of her.
Pelosi’s son and Hunter Biden had deals with Burisma. Romney’s consigliere Cofer Black sat on the board.
Alternate site with Lara Logan video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg-zaAeV7bU
She has convinced me not to jump the shark on the so convenient hatred of Russia, Ruassia, Russia.
The USA and NATO have caused this war.But Putin has overplayed his hand.And so we are actually IN WW III. The USA is covering that up.Lies on an epic scale.Zalensky is a puppet. Soros runs the money Laundramat for the Democrat Party.
I really like Lara Logan.Look at the SES.
Trump ,,,,,,is coming.
thanks, saved it to distribute. Putin didn’t over play his hand as much as walk into a trap. He’s a man who loves his country...which is more than I can say for the Biden gang:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qS6J-WbTD8
Listen carefully.
Listen carefully.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I listened carefully . but the fact us that if Putin wants the economic benefits of the G7 he needs to stop wagiung wars of annexation and become part of Europe as a whole.
Putin cannot do that because he cannot contemplate having a free population with fundamental human rights whichi coome with democracy. Ulrain is now a democracy. A poor one, subjected to exploitation and corrumption by men like Biden, but a puppet democracy which is functioning as an independent state accordingto International Law.Putin may have good cause to invade Ukraine, but instead of joining Europe, Russia under Putin has always chosen to separate from it. This is the source of Putins propblems, He will not give up his system of oligarghs and privilege that entails for the rulling class, even though they are massively wealth and can now easily move their internal politics closer to a Western European model.
But Putin Balks and walks out of G8 by invading Crimea and annexing it. This was Putins mistake even though it was strategically necesary to turn back the hoards of Ilamic refugeees pointing at the soft underbelly of Russia.He did not need to annex Crimea to protect Russia, there were other avenues to accomlish the protection Russia needed.
Putin seems reasonable...but remember Hitlers justificwtion for invading Poland , he needeed Leibenshraum...so many thought his actions vindicated.
But they were not vidicated. The irredeemables were rounded up and put int o ovens in places like Dachau.Putin is alread lining up people and executing them in various cities, either by pistol shot to the back of the head or by firing squad.It happens daily but the MSM does not want that reported, it would make Biden look like the foot dragging crook he truly is.
Putin needs an off ramp. If he doesn;t find one and take it, Europe will realize its already in WW III, and then you will see the dogs of war unleashed , damned be the consequeces , such as the “Konzern” about nuclear war.Putin needs to understand that is he uses chemical weapons of nukes, Moscow will be a hole in the ground that will glow in the darlfor the next 100 years.Right now Pooty knows Biden hasn’t the hutzpa to even rumor that.Thats the problem.We are out of fuel, natural gas, and MAD.
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