24.03.2021
Babiš deepfake video viewed by over a million people
Over a million people have seen the new deepfake video showing fake Andrej Babiš warning against disinformation. The video was the secret culmination of the #TruthHurts campaign.
Up to 800 thousand people watched the video, created using cutting-edge digital technologies, in the exclusive preview on CNN Prima’s prime time news. On Facebook, over 250 thousand people have seen the video since Saturday. The reactions are overwhelmingly positive:
“Great idea, keep going! Every day, our decisions are influenced by various lies and half-truths. It is up to us to be honest with ourselves about this constant manipulation and look for ways to stand up to it,” commented Jaroslav.
People also often voice concerns regarding the future of information society and political conflicts. Some viewers have noticed interesting details:
“It’s crazy how far technology can go today - and this is just the beginning. Voice modulation is pretty easy, but what caught my attention here was Petr Jablonský’s ring. I haven’t noticed it on the Prime Minister’s hand before,” noticed Pavel.
What did the media have to say about us?
“Fake Babiš helps the Pirates tackle disinformation in the Truth Hurts campaign.”
Right after the video was published, Markéta Gregorová visited Libor Bouček’s TV talk show and presented both the video and the whole #TruthHurts campaign. “We already have all kinds of apps that let you paste somebody’s face onto a different body and so on. They are not perfect, but they are approaching perfection extremely fast. Raising awareness about what lies ahead and that this exists is sorely needed,” said Markéta Gregorová to the viewers of CNN Prima News.
She also explained how these advanced fake videos are made: “It’s about machine learning and artificial intelligence. If you feed the programme with a lot of data points on a certain face, like the Prime Minister’s face, which is of course easily available on the Internet, you can teach it: “yes, this is what the Prime Minister’s face looks like”. And then you can overlap it over the data points of a different face.”
“Don’t believe everything you see. The Pirates and a fake Babiš warn of manipulated videos.”
The Forum24 news server also noted that Markéta Gregorová is a member of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference and Disinformation, with the goal to report to the Commission and work towards new legislation to efficiently tackle disinformation.
“Our goal is to make people more cautious when consuming information. I want to make sure that Czechs stop being easy prey for local and foreign disinformation campaigns. Our study Očima odborníků (Through the Eyes of Experts) shows that they have been growing in number and efficiency since at least 2014. A society that consciously works on its resilience against disinformation is the foundation of a strong democracy,” said Markéta Gregorová for Forum24.