AI-generated deepfake videos of fake Le Pen family members went viral on TikTok, promoting French far-right parties and collecting donations while spreading misleading political content ahead of EU elections.
Multiple deepfake TikTok accounts were created using AI to generate videos of fictional Le Pen family members, including 'Amandine Le Pen', 'Lena Marechal Le Pen', and 'Chloe Le Pen', who do not actually exist. These accounts accumulated over 30,000 followers each and some videos received over 2 million views. The deepfakes used juvenile faces of Marine Le Pen and Marion Marechal edited onto videos stolen from real female influencers. The fake accounts promoted French far-right parties National Rally and Reconquete ahead of the June 2024 EU elections, with content featuring political hashtags like 'Lepen', 'RN', and '2027'. The videos included suggestive poses and politically charged captions with racist undertones, such as 'When you walk around Paris, you see more veils than baguettes'. One account included a link to buymeacoffee.com allowing followers to donate 5 euros for virtual 'coffees'. The accounts were eventually banned by TikTok after media coverage, with an anonymous operator claiming it was a 'social experiment' unrelated to politics. The incident highlighted concerns about AI-generated misinformation on social media platforms ahead of elections.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed