Elon Musk Shares Manipulated Harris Video, in Seeming Violation of X’s Policies
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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has waded into one of the thorniest issues facing U.S. politics: deepfake videos.
On Friday night, Mr. Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, reposted an edited campaign video for Vice President Kamala Harris that appears to have been digitally manipulated to change the spot’s voice-over in a deceptive manner.
The video mimics Ms. Harris’s voice, but instead of using her words from the original ad, it has the vice president saying that President Biden is senile, that she does not “know the first thing about running the country” and that, as a woman and a person of color, she is the “ultimate diversity hire.”
In addition, the clip was edited to remove images of former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, and to add images of Mr. Biden. The original, unaltered ad, which the Harris campaign released on Thursday, is titled “We Choose Freedom.”
Kamala Harris files nomination for US presidential run after Elon Musk mocks her bid with parody video
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US Vice President Kamala Harris has signed official papers to become a presidential candidate for November elections. This came after former President Barack Obama and his spouse proudly endorsed her as the presidential nominee for the Democratic party, declaring that their “friend” would make a “fantastic President for the US”. Before Kamala Harris’ official announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocked the US VP by resharing a video that parodies her presidential campaign ad.(AP)
“At this critical moment for our country, we are going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us,” Obama wrote on X.
After getting the most important endorsement from Obamas, Harris thanked Michelle and Barack, stating that “It means so much to have your endorsements.”
On Saturday, Harris took to X to confirm: “Today, I signed the forms officially declaring my candidacy for President of the United States.”
She vowed to “work hard to earn every vote”, asserting that “our people-powered campaign will win” in November.
Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband and second gentleman, remarked: “We can do this. Time to put in the work.”
Is Elon Musk not happy with Kamala Harris’ presidential run?
Before Harris’ official announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocked the US VP by resharing a video that parodies her presidential campaign ad.
The background montage features AI-generated audio of Harris making various controversial comments.
The video, which was originally shared by by Mr. Reagan (@/MrReaganUSA), starts with the US VP saying, “I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed to senility of the debate. Thanks, Joe. I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I’m both a woman and a person of color.”
“So if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist. I may not know the first thing about running the country, but remember, that’s a good thing if you’re a deep state puppet. I had four years under the tutelage of the ultimate deep state puppet, a wonderful mentor,” the video continued.
The fake voice of Harris went on to say that Biden taught her to “hide your total incompetence.”
“Another trick is trying to sound black. I pretend to celebrate Kwanzaa, and in my speeches, I always do my best Barack Obama impression. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s tight. And okay, look maybe my work addressing the root causes of the border crisis were catastrophic, but my knowledge of international politics is truly shocking. The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance,” it adds.
The video concludes with remarks, “Republic of North Korea. It is an alliance that is strong and enduring. And just remember when voting this November it is important to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And by what has been, I mean Joe Biden. You think the country went to sh** over the past four years? You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Resharing the video on his own social media platform X, Musk wrote: “This is amazing,” with a laughing emoji.
Also Read: Donald Trump spotted without bandage for the first time at Mar-a-Lago
Musk’s post gets netizens’ attention
Musk’s post received mixed reactions from the netizens, with some backing Trump’s presidential bid and other blasting the SpaceX CEO for targeting Harris.
“Is this AI or real,” on user asked.
“Finally, an honest campaign ad,” a second user wrote, while a third said, “Pray for President Trump to win in November.”
“You suspend Democrats for posting fake media, and then you do this? You are a lying, douchebag hypocrite. Your karma will catch up to you and that day will be GLORIOUS,” another commented.
Meanwhile, one netizen advised Musk to “not use AI generated voices to attack candidates. That just opens this all up to something far worse.”
Kamala Harris deepfakes are going viral on TikTok and Elon Musk’s X
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As Kamala Harris prepares to become the Democratic nominee for president, deepfake videos of Harris are spreading on social media.
As Kamala Harris prepares to become the Democratic nominee for president, deepfake videos of Harris are spreading on social media. Credit: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images
The internet has been full of reactions and memes ever since Joe Biden announced he wasn’t running for reelection on Sunday and proceeded to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee.
Harris’ supporters on social media have focused on funny moments and offbeat speeches delivered by the Vice President over the past few years. Like " Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?", for example.
Some supporters of the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, however, have chosen a different path: Sharing manipulated media on social media showcasing a fake speech that Kamala Harris never delivered.
The video, which has gone viral on TikTok and Twitter, features Kamala Harris speaking in front of a live crowd. However, the clip is a deepfake. The video has been edited and the audio has been replaced with what appears to be an AI-generated clone voice.
Media Matters for America released a report on Monday concerning the deepfake going viral on TikTok, where it received millions of views. Shortly after the report, TikTok removed the posts as well as the fake audio from the platform.
“TikTok has firm policies against harmful AI-generated content and misleadingly edited media, and is aggressively removing this content while partnering with fact-checkers to assess the accuracy of content on TikTok in real time,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement provided to Mashable.
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Kamala Harris deepfake resurges after candidacy for president
This is not the first time that this specific Kamala Harris deepfake has been spread online. Multiple outlets debunked the deepfake video of Harris when it was first posted last year.
The deepfake clip features a bonafide video of Harris speaking in front of an audience at Howard University in 2023. However, the video has been digitally altered.
“Today is today and yesterday was today yesterday,” Kamala Harris appears to say while slurring her words in the viral video. “Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. So, live today so the future today will be as the past today, as it is tomorrow.”
However, Harris never said that quote .
The full video of the live event does not feature the moment seen in the viral deepfake clip. Experts have pointed out that there is digital noise around her mouth in the video, an attempt to edit the clip to match the fake audio. In addition, the fake audio doesn’t feature any background noise nor audio from the crowd.
Regardless, more than a year after the Harris deepfake was debunked, it went viral on Elon Musk’s X after a right-wing user uploaded the clip to the platform last week. The post still exists on X, where it has received more than 3.4 million views. Based on its policies, X does not remove this type of content. However, X users did manage to add a user-generated Community Note to the post, letting others know that the video is fake.
Unlike X, AI-generated misinformation does break TikTok’s platform rules. TikTok says it proactively removes 98 percent of content violating its policies. However, according to the Media Matters report, one of the viral uploads of the Harris deepfake received more than 4.1 million views before it was removed. TikTok says it is working to detect other uploads of the Harris deepfake in order to remove it.
Deepfake videos have long been a concern for political campaigns. Now, with AI-generated audio and video tools so freely available and accessible by the public, deepfakes will likely be a bigger issue in 2024 than ever before.