"Ireland is just days away from electing a new president - a mostly ceremonial role, though the office does carry constitutional responsibilities like appointing the Taoiseach, or prime minister, and referring legislation to the courts, granting the post real authority. This year, independent progressive Catherine Connolly has surged ahead in the polls, commanding a comfortable lead over her sole rival, the center-right Heather Humphreys."
"There's just one small wrinkle: Connolly never actually withdrew. It was the latest case of a hoax perpetuated by a deepfake, meaning an AI-generated recording that misrepresents real people to spread disinformation or sow other types of chaos. It all started on Meta's Facebook, where alookalike account called "RTÉ News AI," after Ireland's public service broadcaster, posted the 40 second clip, which was allowed to stay up for 12 hours."
"While some deepfakes are pretty easy to spot if you know what to look for, this one was slick. It opens with a news desk reporter for RTÉ announcing that "Catherine Connolly has confirmed her withdrawal from the presidential race." In typical news broadcast fashion, it then cuts to tightly edited, synthesized footage of the politician, plastered with RTÉ chyrons to look like a real broadcast. Arguably the biggest tell comes after the faux -Connolly announces her withdrawal, when characteristically un-Irish voices from the crowd holler "Catherine, no!""
Ireland is days away from electing a new president, a mostly ceremonial role with constitutional responsibilities such as appointing the Taoiseach and referring legislation to the courts. Independent progressive Catherine Connolly led polls over center-right Heather Humphreys. A convincing AI-generated deepfake circulated on Meta's Facebook appearing to show Connolly withdrawing and thereby handing the presidency to Humphreys. The video was posted by a lookalike account named "RTÉ News AI" and remained online for 12 hours, attracting 30,000 views and hundreds of shares before removal. The clip used synthesized broadcast footage, chyrons, and misleading crowd audio. Connolly never withdrew.
#ireland-presidential-election #deepfake-disinformation #social-media-moderation #catherine-connolly
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