• Find out what a “dumbfake” video is and why they worry officials.
Sophisticated phony videos called deepfakes have attracted plenty of attention as a possible threat to election integrity. But a bigger problem for the 2020 U.S. presidential contest may be “dumbfakes” — simpler and more easily unmasked bogus videos that are easy and often cheap to produce.
Unlike deepfakes, which require sophisticated artificial intelligence, audio manipulation and facial mapping technology, dumbfakes can be made simply by varying the speed of video or selective editing. They are easier to create and can be convincing to an unsuspecting viewer, which makes them a much more immediate worry.
A slowed video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., that made her appear impaired garnered more than 2 million views on Facebook in May. In November, then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a sped-up video of CNN reporter Jim Acosta that made him look more aggressive than he was during an exchange with an intern. Her post received thousands of retweets.
The fact that these videos are made so easily and widely shared across social media platforms does not bode well for 2020, said Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California.
“The clock is ticking,” Farid said. “The Nancy Pelosi video was a canary in a coal mine.”
Social media companies don’t have clear-cut policies banning fake videos, in part because they don’t want to be in the position of deciding whether something is satire or intended to mislead people — or both. Doing so also could open them to charges of censorship or political bias.
But Facebook will “downrank” false or misleading posts — including videos — so that fewer people will see them. Such material also will be paired with fact checks produced by outside organizations, including The Associated Press.
There are also vast gray areas depending on political affiliation or your sense of humor.
One social media user who calls himself Paul Lee Ticks — a play on the word “politics” — often makes fabricated videos, mostly of President Donald Trump. In one of his most recent video edits, he added a “concentration camps” sign to the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
Another social media user who goes by the handle Carpe Donktum makes edited videos in support of the president. After Trump’s June comments that Joe Biden appeared slow, Carpe Donktum slowed video footage of Biden and spliced two clips, making the former vice president appear to say something he did not.
Trump often retweets Carpe Donktum, and last week he met the president in person during the White House’s “social media summit” featuring conservatives. Carpe Donktum says he makes parody videos and disputes the notion that his videos are “doctored” because their intent is satirical and the manipulations obvious.
“These are memes and have been on the internet since the internet’s inception,” he said.
Paul Lee Ticks and Carpe Donktum, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because of fear of threats and harassment, started off making videos that were more simplistic and comical. But their videos have become more sophisticated, blurring the line between what is real and fake in a more convincing way for an audience that is unsuspecting or unfamiliar with their comedic style.
Concern about these videos is growing among experts, politicians and the general public.
During a House Intelligence Committee hearing June 13, Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said the Pelosi video represents the scale of the problem ahead. According to a June Pew Research Center study, 63 percent of Americans surveyed about madeup news and information said videos and images altered to mislead the public create a great deal of confusion around the facts of current issues.