Arabic version: شبكة أجنبية تستخدم الذكاء الاصطناعي لتزييف مقاطع لسياسيين أستراليين
According to ABC News, researchers have identified a foreign network of more than 200 Facebook pages that has produced AI deepfakes impersonating Australian political figures over the past eight months.
Reset Tech said the pages impersonated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and other politicians. Its research linked the apparently coordinated operation to an influencer business in Sri Lanka and found that about 10 per cent of the pages had been monetised through Facebook’s creator-payment scheme.
The posts commonly used short Facebook Reels that falsely depicted politicians making inflammatory statements. Researchers said the material frequently focused on anti-migrant, anti-Muslim or nationalistic themes, while some female politicians were targeted with sexualised images and videos.
Reset Tech said the network also targeted France, Italy, the UK, the US, Canada and Mexico. Globally, it was believed to run 1,864 coordinated Facebook pages with mostly identical branding and a combined following of 5.9 million users. The group said only one in three posts received AI labelling and one in 33 was deleted.
Meta said it was reviewing the pages identified and would act against any that breached its policies. Independent senator David Pocock said deepfakes could undermine the democratic system, while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke urged people to check their sources.
