Investigating Elections: Threat from AI Audio Deepfakes

Elections all over the world are endangered by a vast array of sophisticated digital threats. This year, when more voters head to the polls than ever before, AI-driven deepfakes threaten electoral processes everywhere, with potentially disastrous consequences for at-risk democracies. AI-generated audio simulations - in which a real voice is cloned by a machine learning tool to produce a fake message - are cheap to produce and easy to spread, and some media manipulation investigators warn that they could emerge as an even bigger threat to elections in 2024 and 2025 than fabricated videos.
While deepfake technology is changing quickly, so are the detection and monitoring tools. And it is fundamental for journalists to stay updated on the latest tools to analyze and debunk suspicious viral election content.
In this GIJN Webinar, three experts share tips, tools, and resources to identify, investigate, and verify potential deepfakes.
Silas Jonathan is a Digital Investigation Manager at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development. An award-winning fact-checker, he has authored numerous research papers and investigations, uncovering entities responsible for propagating information disorder across the African region.
Shayan Sardarizadeh is a journalist with BBC Verify, where he covers fake news, disinformation and manipulation on digital platforms. He also conducts open source investigations, including verification of content and geolocation.
Olga Yurkova is a journalist and cofounder of StopFake.org, an independent Ukrainian organization that trains an international cohort of fact-checkers in an effort to curb propaganda and misinformation in the media.
The moderator is Rowan Philp, GIJN’s senior reporter, who recently wrote a long feature story on the AI deepfake threat - and how investigative journalists can counter it - for GIJN: gijn.org/resou....
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The Global Investigative Journalism Network is an international association of journalism organizations that support the training and sharing of information among investigative and data journalists-with special attention to those from repressive regimes and marginalized communities.
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