By Victor Oladokun
These days, online and on social media platforms, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell what is true or false. Recently, two deep fakes went viral on WhatsApp. Both concern Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group.
Deep Fake 1: The first Deep Fakes from about three weeks ago, was a video of Adesina purportedly claiming to have suffered from diabetes for years, and then proceeding to market a supposed cure for the disease which could be bought online. In this particular instance, the content producers manipulated a speech Adesina made in 2022 in Morocco and overlaid the original audio with a lip-synched fake audio in which he supposedly made the claims. The fact is, he has never marketed a miracle cure or product. Neither does he suffer from diabetes.
Deep Fake 2: The second WhatsApp distributed Deep Fake, from yesterday which has equally gone viral, appeared in the form of a supposed Vanguard newspaper front page article with a photograph of Adesina and a screaming headline – “Akinwumi Adesina did not know the microphone was on. We say goodbye to him forever. This is a sad day for all of Nigeria.”
The fake front cover article then proceeds to provide fictional details of a non-existent TV broadcast interview with Adesina, which claims, among many other things, that he –
a) boasted about the wealth he has made as a millionaire who has not had to depend on a single source of income.
b) bullied the interviewer and demanded that she delete a statement he had just made on the air.
c) proceeded during the live TV interview to demand that the interviewer hand over her mobile phone. Once she did, in a matter of seconds, Adesina allegedly signed her up on the spot for a get-rich-quick crypto app that would make her tens of thousands of dollars a month.
The first thing I did was to call Vanguard Editor, Eze Anaba, who confirmed what I already knew. The front cover image and the accompanying article were both fake, false, and fictional. They never appeared in the publication, either in print or online. Neither was any such article penned by the Vanguard. The fact is that no such interview ever took place on ARISE TV. The supposed encounter and interview do not exist anywhere online.
If it sounds too good to be true, then it is: Throughout his career, Akinwumi Adesina has been a person of impeccable character and integrity, with a global reputation. What we are seeing and will continue to see in ways that also affect other names are similar, repugnant lies, misinformation, impersonations, and outright lies intended to deceive or defraud. We are entering a new era in which law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to enhance their capabilities, track down, and deal decisively with purveyors of deception and online fraud.
What are Deep Fakes? Deep Fakes or ‘synthetic digital media’ are making that task even more difficult. Thanks to artificial intelligence, content creators are able to put out believable and realistic videos, pictures, audio, and texts of events or persons that never happened. Some content is entertainment-oriented. Others represent grave real and present dangers from malevolent actors.
At risk are the public, law enforcement, national security, individual and corporate reputations, political campaigns and elections, as well as financial and business domains.
Why Respond? Under normal circumstances, one would simply ignore such ridiculous reports. But these are not normal times. Deep Fake videos and news accounts are being weaponized by marketers of dubious schemes, political hacks, pranksters, and blackmailers.
Since audiences tend to believe what they see and hear, even when poorly produced, Deep Fakes are extremely effective at rapidly spreading distortions and misinformation. In the not-too-distant future, with much cheaper technology costs and greater accessibility, the power of Deep Fakes to rapidly spread misinformation, destroy individual and corporate reputations, create discontent, erode public confidence, and blur the lines between what is fact, fiction, truth and lies, will become truly unprecedented.
Conclusion: The bottom line is that deep fakes must be tackled by technological gatekeepers and law enforcement in real time. To not do so, is to open the flood gates to national, regional, and global misinformation campaigns of epic proportions. In extreme cases, they can and they will lead to inconceivable instability and chaos when used by sophisticated and malevolent actors.
_Dr. Oladokun is Senior Advisor to the President (Communication), African Development Bank Group_