Billionaire Elon Musk is facing criticism for sharing a deepfake video of US Vice President Kamala Harris. Tech campaigners say this violates the platform’s policies.
Musk reposted a manipulated Harris campaign video. In the video, a voice mimicking Harris calls President Joe Biden senile and claims she doesn’t “know the first thing about running the country.” It also calls her the “ultimate diversity hire” as a woman and person of color.
The video was initially posted by a conservative podcaster, Chris Kohls, and labeled a “parody.” However, Musk’s repost did not include this label, only saying, “This is amazing,” with a laughing emoji.
This is amazing 😂
pic.twitter.com/KpnBKGUUwn— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2024
The repost got over 130 million views, raising concerns about AI-enabled political disinformation ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Harris’s campaign stated, “We believe 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.”
Musk, with nearly 192 million followers, is very influential on the platform X, previously called Twitter, which he bought in 2022 for $44 billion.
Earlier this month, Musk endorsed Donald Trump after Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the manipulated Harris video “should be illegal” and plans to sign a bill banning such media.
Musk responded, “parody is legal in America,” and included the original video.
Musk’s repost seems to violate X’s policies, which ban sharing “synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.” X did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the watchdog Free Press, wrote, “Ignoring the rules of the road (because) he bought the road,” referring to Musk’s apparent violation of the site’s policies.
Disinformation researchers are worried about the misuse of AI technology in elections due to the availability of cheap and easy-to-use online tools.
AI-generated content, especially audio, is difficult to identify and caused national concern in January when a fake robocall posing as Biden urged New Hampshire residents not to vote in the state’s primary.
Benavidez wrote, “Platforms play an outsized role in election cycles. They must do better.”
