Deepfake Targeting Irish Presidential Candidate Sparks Election Integrity Fears

_{Photo credit: Houses of the Oireachtas, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr}

The Irish Electoral Commission, An Coimisiún Toghcháin, has issued caution as Ireland heads to the polls for the Irish presidential election following disinformation in a number of deepfake videos. 

Notably, an AI-generated video surfaced on Facebook and YouTube showing Independent candidate Catherine Connolly announcing her withdrawal from the race and the cancelation of the election on October 24. The clip also used deepfake RTÉ News bulletins to make the announcement appear more authentic.

YouTube has said it has “terminated the channel for violating our Community Guidelines, which strictly prohibit channel impersonation.”

The incident has raised concerns about the impact of increasingly convincing deepfakes on political campaigns, and the lines between satire and political integrity. 

Ciarán O’Connor of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue told RTÉ:

It requires close examination and attention to discern whether it is genAI or not. But when published and shared on social media platforms where people consume news and information so rapidly, many people may not take the time to assess it, instead believing it to be true.

With voters increasingly consuming news and opinion via social media, the challenge of discerning truth from fiction has become increasingly urgent. How Irish authorities and technology platforms respond to this incident may help set a precedent both in Ireland and abroad.

European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said that under the EU’s Digital Services Act, social media platforms must “protect the integrity of elections on their services.”