The Islamic State claimed responsibility. That won’t stop the claims and counterclaims.
Deepfakes have freaked me out since I saw the “Tom Cruise” videos that made the news a few years ago. With the ability to create a video or audio recording of someone doing/saying something they never did—evil people can do very bad things with that technology. How can we be sure of anything we see/head anymore?
While most people have developed the critical thinking skills necessary to determine the authenticity of posts on social media, some can’t (*cough* MAGA *cough*). It only takes one person to share a fake story/video/image, and then it spreads around the world like wildfire. This is why I have been such a strong advocate for critical thinking courses in our public schools.
(Please click through to read the entire article on The Daily Beast website. I promote good work and if no one is visiting their site from here, it negates my purpose. Thanks. I appreciate you!😁)
After gunmen on the outskirts of Moscow opened fire at a popular concert hall Friday night, in the deadliest attack that Russia’s capital has seen in more than a decade, claims and counterclaims are now mounting about who is responsible for the violence, and a deepfake video is already adding to the swirl of disinformation.
In the hours after the attack at Crocus City Hall, which killed at least 133 people, the Islamic State claimed responsibility. US security officials blamed the Islamic State in Khorasan, a branch that works in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
But some Russian lawmakers quickly pointed a finger at Ukraine, and Russia’s NTV television channel soon aired a deepfake video that fueled those suspicions. The fake video appeared to show Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, speaking about the attack. “Is it fun in Moscow today?” he seemed to say, though he never actually did. “I think it’s a lot of fun. I would like to believe that we will arrange such fun for them more often.” The video mashed together AI-generated audio from recent interviews with two Ukrainian officials, including Danilov, according to BBC Verify reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh.
