Tensions tend to run high in an election year, and 2024 is shaping up to be even more tense than most. There’s a new variable in the mix this year: the fact that technology now exists to create accurate-looking photos and videos of events that never happened. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, NPR reported that fake videos were cropping up across the internet.
There was once a point in time when fake videos were relatively easy to identify. Now, many more people have access to tools that can create realistic-looking images and clips. Some people do it to drive a particular political ideology; others do it for the sake of chaos, full stop. And with the election just days away, the FBI has taken steps to crack down on disinformation — including posting warnings on social media.
“The FBI is aware of two videos falsely claiming to be from the FBI relating to election security, one stating the FBI has apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud and the second relating to the Second Gentleman,” the FBI wrote on Twitter/X. “These videos are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false.”
As Engadget’s Cheyenne Macdonald wrote, this isn’t the only recent action the government has taken to respond to disinformation. Engadget reports that the FBI worked with the the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to identify other fake election-related videos with ties to overseas actors.
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Audio clips of Ko Wen-je may not be the genuine articleThe recent statement from the FBI about faked videos also mentions that the agency is working with “state and local law enforcement partners” to address what they refer to as “election threats.” It’s an alarming moment in time, when artificially created videos have the potential of going viral and misleading voters. As always, if you see something especially outrageous online, taking the time to verify its origins can pay off.
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