Digital weaponry: Russia using deepfakes to spread misinformation against Ukraine, claims report

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a surge in 'Deepfake' videos are being used to spread misinformation against Ukraine.

The sudden surge in such videos has put US authorities on alert.

Apparently, a Russian propaganda campaign called 'Ukraine Today' is using fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote fake news about the war, according to a report in The Guardian.

Officials from US intelligence agencies are monitoring video and audio for manipulation that might result in misinformation.

Reports from Fox News state that the FBI is continuing its fight against illegal deepfakes as the technology improves.

"Audio, video, text and images that are created to show something that didn't necessarily happen, or never occurred," FBI Cyber Division Unit Chief Pranav Shah was quoted as stating in the report.

Several fake profiles, posing as pro-Russian Ukrainians have been removed from Facebook and Twitter, according to the report.

Deepfakes are being used by influence operations with ties to Russia and Belarus to spread disinformation against Ukraine.

Video forgeries known as deep fakes make people seem to say things they never said, such as the viral forged video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the forged video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Over the weekend, Facebook and Twitter removed two anti-Ukraine "covert influence operations." One of them had ties with Russia and the other with Belarus.

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In recent years, deepfakes have become so convincing that it is difficult to differentiate between them and the real thing.

In a study cited last week by AI News, researchers concluded that humans can no longer distinguish between real and AI-generated "deepfake" faces.

(With inputs from agencies)