Elon Musk posted a fake Kamala Harris campaign video on his social network X without noting that it was a modified video. This violates the social network’s rules.
The video posted by Musk is a deepfake. The altered clip uses a fake voice that sounds like Kamala Harris. In it, the alleged Democratic presidential candidate makes several provocative remarks, such as calling herself the best version of diversity, saying she spent four years under the tutelage of a puppet, and accusing anyone who disagrees with her of racism and sexism.
The video was originally posted by @MrReaganUSA, with the caveat that it was a “PARODY of a Kamala Harris campaign ad.” That’s a mandatory disclaimer required by X rules. However, when the same video was posted by Elon Musk, the same disclaimer about the parody and altered content did not appear. Instead, Musk simply showed the video in a note, adding his own comment, “This is amazing,” with a laughing-out-loud emoji.
This is amazing 😂
pic.twitter.com/KpnBKGUUwn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2024
In accordance with regulations X, users “cannot share synthetic, manipulative, or out-of-context media that is likely to mislead or confuse people and cause harm (‘deceptive media’)”. According to the rules, such a message would have to be removed by the social network’s administration.
But breaking the rules isn’t a problem if the offender is the social network’s owner. The fake video was posted on Friday and is still available on the platform. It has been viewed nearly 130 million times since then. The post has not been flagged as misleading, which the site sometimes does when it deems certain media as such. It also hasn’t been flagged for misinformation using the site’s Community Notes fact-checking tool, though The New York Times notes that several were submitted. Under X’s policy, altered media can remain on the site in some cases without being flagged as misleading. This includes memes and satire, “as long as they don’t cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media.”
In recent years, concerns have grown about the potential for deepfakes to be used to influence voters ahead of elections. Earlier this year, 20 tech companies signed a pledge to help combat “fraudulent use of artificial intelligence” in the 2024 election, including X. But that hasn’t stopped Musk from breaking the platform’s rules and commitments.
Source: Engadget
