Meta Takes Down Viral Deepfaked Video Of Ukraine’s Zelenskyy ‘Surrendering’
A viral video of Volodymyr Zelenskyy went viral on Facebook this week, supposedly showing the Ukrainian President surrendering to the invading Russian troops.
It’s now emerged that the video was a deepfake, and was possibly created by bad actors to deceive the public as to the actual events taking place in the ongoing conflict.
Futurism pointed out that while the video isn’t the greatest display of technological nuance—as evident by “Zelenskky” having an all too big head—it’s a clear warning that we’re headed towards territory where disinformation could be harder to spot.
Worse still, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) said that the deepfake video was aired on a hacked news program, which could have led more people to think it was credible.
“This is a fake!” Ukraine 24, the news outlet, wrote on Instagram.
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has since issued a statement, saying it “identified and removed a deepfake video claiming to show President Zelenskyy issuing a statement he never did.”
Zelenskyy himself chimed in, posting a real video to Facebook saying it was the Russian troops who should surrender instead.
“If I can offer someone to lay down their arms, it’s the Russian military. Go home. Because we’re home. We are defending our land, our children, and our families,” he said in the clip.
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[via Futurism and VICE, cover image via Yanosh Nemesh | Dreamstime.com]
